Heatwave to continue in Punjab for another 4 days; isolated rain may bring some respite
The weather department has predicted that the current spell of heatwave — that has been prevailing over parts of north-west India for the last five days — is expected to continue for another four days, though some respite in the form of isolated showers at a few places this week is in the offing.
Heatwave conditions are likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi during the next four days, a bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on April 7 stated while issuing a yellow alert for Punjab from April 7-10.
The bulletin also said that a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from April 8, which could result in rain, along with thunderstorms and lightning, over parts of Punjab on April 10 and 11.
Scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds are also likely over neighbouring regions of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttarakhand during April 9 -11.
In the last 24 hours, the highest maximum temperature recorded in Punjab was 39.7°C. Day temperatures in the state were above normal by 3.1 to 6°C.
The lowest minimum temperature recorded during this period was 17.1°C at Ballowal Saunkhri. Night temperatures were also above normal in all districts of the state, with the deviation ranging from 1.6 to 4.4°C.
The weather department expects a further rise in the maximum temperature over Punjab by 2-4°C during the next three days and fall by 2-3°C thereafter.
The climate summary for March released by IMD on April 7 revealed that the average maximum temperature over north-west India during the month was 28.99°C against the normal of 27.64°C, while the average minimum was 17.79°C against the normal of 16.94°C.
The summary revealed that the average maximum and minimum temperatures for the country as a whole during March were above normal by 1.02°C and 0.61°C, respectively. The average maximum temperature for March is the 11th highest since 1901, while the average minimum is the 12th highest.
Rainfall over north-west India during March was deficient by 41.3 per cent, while for the country as a whole, the shortfall was 32.6 per cent, according to IMD data.
Punjab