IMD sounds heatwave alarm in north, east over next two weeks
NEW DELHI: Heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are likely to set in over several parts of northwest and east India by the end of April and extend into early May, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday.
IMD’S extended range forecast for April 22-28 and April 29-May 5 suggest maximum temperatures are likely to be significantly above normal (by 3°C- 6°C) over many parts of the country during the week starting April 29.
Parts of east India, including Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar etc, are likely to be significantly impacted by heat stress, parts of northwest India are also likely to report extremely high temperatures, the forecast stated.
Rainfall activity is likely to be normal to above normal over extreme south Peninsular India, covering Kerala and coastal Karnataka, northeast India, Kashmir; below normal rainfall is expected over the plains in the northwest — Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand — and near normal rainfall over rest of the country, the forecast said.
“Our models are showing that Odisha, Jharkhand, east Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar will be badly impacted by the heat wave. East India will be more affected this time. There will be above normal temperatures and heatwaves over northwest India during the next two weeks. But due to approaching western disturbances, the heatwaves are not likely to continue. The ‘normals’ are increasing so the impact of heat waves will be more intense. But in the east, it’s the combination of severe heat and humidity that will affect people,” said RK Jenamani, senior scientist, national weather forecasting centre at IMD.
“There is a feeble western disturbance approaching around April 28 but after it moves away, we do not expect any systems that can help relieve heat wave conditions. So maximum temperatures can go up to 46°C over parts of northwest India and up to 48°C over regions like Barmer, Churu, Daltonganj, Vidarbha, parts of south Madhya Pradesh etc where temperatures had reached around 48°C earlier in April during the prolonged heat wave spell,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, climate change and meteorology at Skymet Weather. “The anti-cyclone could shift to south Rajasthan, leading to incursion of very hot winds,” he added.
“Warning for heat waves! The Extended Range Forecasts of @Indiametdept suggests suppressed rainfall activity over most of the country except Kerala & TN during next 4 weeks Consequently, temps are expected to rise leading to heat waves over northern parts & east coast,” tweeted M Rajeevan, former secretary, ministry of earth sciences on April 21.
“Peak Summer level #Heatwave Outbreak: Anti cyclonic circulation wind pattern to appear over #India by fag end of April - May first week. Resulting in Severe Heatwave over North & Central states, Max might reach 46-48°c in #Rajasthan, S #Uttarpradesh, Up to 44-46°c in #Delhi NCR,” tweeted Navdeep Dahiya, founder of Live Weather of India, a private forecasting company on Saturday.
According to the IMD, there is a 29% rain deficiency so far in the pre-monsoon season that started on March 1 with 87% deficiency over northwest India; 70% over central India; 32% and 10% excess over peninsular India and east and northeast India.
The projection states a feeble western disturbance is likely to affect the Western Himalayan region from the night of April 28 and bring isolated rainfall and thunderstorm activity over the higher ridges of Kashmir-ladakh-gilgit-baltistan-muzaffarabad, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during April 28-30. Another western disturbance is likely to affect Western Himalayan Region and adjoining plains of India from May 3, it stated.