IMD warns of heatwave in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi

Pic courtesy: PTI (File image - New Delhi)

Chandigarh: Hot weather conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana with Narnaul at 44.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday, the hottest place in both states. After Narnaul, the maximum in Hisar in Haryana was recorded at 43.1 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal while Bhiwani experienced hot weather at 42.6 degrees, as per the MeT department. 

Karnal's maximum was 38.4 degree Celsius. Union Territory Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded maximum temperature at 39.0 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded maximum at 38.4 degrees Celsius. Ludhiana, which witnessed rains, recorded maximum at 35.7 degrees Celsius while maximum temperature in Patiala was 38.5 degree Celsius. According to the MeT department forecast, rain/thundershowers are likely at isolated places in Haryana and Punjab in next two days.

On the other hand, severe heatwave conditions are 'very likely' to prevail at a few places in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, while thunderstorm and duststorm accompanied with gusty winds are 'very likely' at isolated places over the state. According to the MeT department, rains and thunderstorm are 'very likely' at a few places over eastern Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places in western UP on June 25 and 26.

On Friday, day temperatures were above normal in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Lucknow, Bareilly, Kanpur, Moradabad, Jhansi and Agra. The highest maximum temperature in the state was recorded in Banda at 45.6 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the day temperatures on Saturday dropped by a few notches in Himachal Pradesh and Una in the Shiwalik foothills recorded a high of 34.0 degrees Celsius. Bhuntar and Sundernagar recorded maximum temperatures of 34.0 degrees Celsius and 32.6 degrees Celsius, respectively, according to the MeT department, PTI reported.

The maximum temperature in Dharamshala settled at 31.2 degrees Celsius, Palampur 31.0 degrees Celsius, Solan 30.5 degrees Celsius, Shimla 24.9 degrees Celsius, Kalpa 24.6 degrees Celsius, Manali 23.4 degrees Celsius and Keylong 21.3 degrees Celsius, it said. Manali, Keylong and Kalpa recorded a low of 10.4 degrees Celsius, 10.5 degrees Celsius and 10.6 degrees Celsius, respectively.

In Delhi, it was a 'very hot' day on Saturday with the mercury soaring to 44.8 degrees Celsius in parts of the city. The Safdarjung observatory, recording of which is considered official for the city, registered a maximum temperature of 42.5 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season's average, said a MeT department official. The minimum temperature in the city was 31.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above the normal. The humidity oscillated between 60 and 25 percent. The weatherman has forecast partly cloudy sky and strong surface winds during daytime for Sunday.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning for June 24:

- Heavy to very heavy rain very likely at a few places over sub ­Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, at isolated places over Assam and Meghalaya and heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gujarat region and Konkan and Goa.

- Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds very likely at isolated places over Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

- Duststorm/thunderstorm very likely at isolated places over Uttar Pradesh.

- Heatwave conditions very likely at many places over UP, at some parts over east Rajasthan and one or two pockets over West Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.

(With PTI and imd.gov.in inputs)