Mercury surges in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan; mild weather in rest of North

Dry and hot weather conditions prevailed in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan where mercury crossed the 40 degree Celsius mark on Sunday.

New Delhi: Dry and hot weather conditions prevailed in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan where mercury crossed the 40 degree Celsius mark today, even as temperature in other parts of northern region continued to be mild.

The maximum temperature in the national capital settled at 36.9 degree Celsius, two notches below normal, and the minimum at 24.4 degree Celsius, one point below normal. There was not much change in the temperature since yesterday. The weatherman has predicted mainly clear sky in Delhi tomorrow and the maximum temperature to be around 38 degree Celsius. In Uttar Pradesh, weather was mainly dry in several parts with Etawah recording a maximum of 43.2 degrees Celsius. According to the local Met office, day temperature rose in Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Allahabad divisions, fell in Moradabad division, and changed little in the remaining divisions of the state. They were appreciably below normal in Agra and Meerut divisions, below normal in Moradabad and Jhansi divisions, and above normal in Gorakhpur, Faizabad, Allahabad divisions. In the desert state of Rajasthan, the mercury rose with Kota reeling under heat wave and registering the state`s highest maximum temperature of 41.3 degree Celsius. Despite cloudy and dusty weather in north-west parts of the state, mercury climbed up by one to three degrees Celsius at many places, causing heat wave conditions at a few places, according to a MeT report. Chittorgarh recorded a maximum temperature of 40.6 degree Celsius, followed by Jaipur 39.8, Udaipur 39.2, and Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur 38.8 degree C each. Besides light to moderate rain or thundershower occurred at isolated places in Bikaner, Kota, and Jodhpur division since last night. Not much change in the present hot and humid weather conditions is expected in the next 24 hours in the state, according to a forecast. Meanwhile, the maximum temperatures continued to hover a few notches below normal in Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two neighbouring states, recorded a maximum of 37.5 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal, the local MeT office said. Among other places in Haryana, Ambala and Hisar recorded below normal maximums at 37.8 deg C and 39.8 deg C, respectively. Amritsar recorded a high of 35.2 deg C, four degrees below normal while Patiala`s maximum settled at 38 deg C. The maximum temperature at Ludhiana was recorded at 36.7 deg C, two notches below normal.