The Met office has issued an orange alert for dangerously high temperature & heat wave in three states, West Bengal, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, and said heat waves are likely in parts of four others – Sikkim, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh – which could be more severe. summer than usual began to reign throughout the country.
But some parts of India will get a breather as a western disturbance brings thunderstorms to Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department said in its forecast.
Punjab and Haryana experienced heat wave like temperatures on Monday, with similar conditions expected on Tuesday. An orange heatwave alert means high temperatures with an increased likelihood of heat illness for people who are either exposed to the sun for extended periods of time or do heavy work. The warning comes a day after 13 people died at a government event in Maharashtra while sitting in the open for several hours.
Extreme heat wave with temperature 45°C
During extreme heat, vulnerable people are particularly at risk, including infants, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses. The IMD recommends various preventive measures such as drinking enough water (even if not thirsty), drinking ORS (oral rehydration solutions or electrolyte replenishment) or similar homemade drinks to maintain hydration.
M Mohapatra, Director General, IMD says “When the wind blows from the east side or from the direction of the Bay of Bengal, there is occasional cloud cover which brings down the temperatures over the eastern states. But heat wave and dry winds from the northwest blow across eastern India, which has relatively higher humidity due to its location. Hence, people in the eastern states need to take adequate heat prevention measures”.
Humidity is relatively high in the coastal states with heat wave
The humidity is relatively high in the coastal states compared to the northern states, say Uttar Pradesh or other parts of northwest India, even though the maximum temperatures are in a similar range. That is why we are also providing this season’s humidity forecast.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president of climate and meteorology at Skymet Weather says “Temperatures are very heat wave high over eastern India, but humidity is still relatively low compared to June and July and because the wind is blowing from the north-west. The constant levels of relative humidity we see can also lead to discomfort and heat wave . They can be severe or fatal when winds approach from the east and similar temperatures prevail”.
For example, the maximum temperature in Asansol was 43 °C with a relative humidity of 47% at 8:30 am; Angul recorded 43.1°C with 74% RH at 8:30 am and Bolangir recorded 43°C with 78% RH. Kolkata recorded a maximum of 41.6°C with a relative humidity of 52% at 8.30 am.
Heat wave conditions are considered when the maximum is above 40 °C over the plains; above 37 °C over coastal areas and above 30 °C over hilly areas and the deviation from normal is between 4.5 and 6.4 °C above the average maximum. If these conditions persist for two consecutive days, a heat wave is declared for the next day.
Experts also said that this year’s weather is developing in the kind of unusual way that has become alarmingly common the changes are drastic as it was in 2022, when much of the country skipped spring and went virtually straight from winter to summer.
Maximum temperatures were in the range of 40-42°C over some parts of the plains of northwest India, central and eastern India and 35-40°C in Himalayan region where it was 22-25°C.
Maximum temperatures were 3-5 degrees C above normal in many parts of eastern and northeastern India. Heatwave conditions were recorded in isolated pockets over Gangetic West Bengal over the past six days; coastal Andhra Pradesh for four days and Bihar for three days.
On Monday, the hottest places in India included Telangana’s Jayashankar Bhupalpalli district, which recorded a maximum of 44.6 degrees, Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur, which recorded 43.4 degrees Celsius, and Bihar’s Supaul, which recorded 42.4 degrees Celsius. Prayagraj, Jhansi, Kanpur and Agra in UP, Patna and East Champaran in Bihar and Bathinda in Punjab recorded temperature above 40 degrees Celsius.
Written by: Vaishali Verma
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