New Delhi: As several parts of India continue to reel under a scorching heatwave, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday (May 14) said the condition is expected to continue till Sunday with some relief from May 16. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology, IMD predicted that the searing heatwave conditions are prevailing in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Vidarbha, with temperatures ranging between 40-46°C. He added that red and orange warnings were issued for some regions of Rajasthan, MP and Haryana. “Heatwave will continue for today and tomorrow. It’ll gradually decrease from May 16 onwards. On the night of May 15, there’ll be a western disturbance in northwest India,” ANI quoted him as saying.
Further, Mohapatra said that the heatwave is likely to abate from May 16 onwards and forecasted rainfall with thunderstorms in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and northern India plains. “Rainfall with thunderstorms are expected in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand along with adjoining plains of north India. Thereafter, temperatures will decrease and heatwave will abate,” the IMD Director General of Meteorology added.
Earlier, the weather department had issued an ‘orange’ alert for Delhi on Saturday, warning that the mercury may touch 46-47 degrees Celsius in some parts of the city. While a ‘yellow’ alert has been notified to warn people about a heatwave on Sunday, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, Kerala is likely to witness the early onset of the Southwest monsoon on May 27, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday. The Southwest monsoon, considered the lifeline of India’s agri-based economy, is expected to bring early showers this year. “This year, the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala is likely to be earlier than normal date of onset. The monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be on May 27 with a model error of plus or minus four days,” the IMD was cited as saying by IANS. The normal onset of monsoon over Kerala is June 1. Besides Kerala, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is likely to receive the first seasonal showers on May 15, almost four days earlier than its usual expected date, the IMD had said.
