Amid the unusual rise in the temperature in parts of west and northwest India, Delhi on Monday recorded the warmest day of the season so far with a maximum temperature of 33.6 degrees Celsius. It was also the warmest day in February in the national capital in over 17 years. Mercury in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad also crossed 38 degrees Celsius in February for the first time in over 30 years.
As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature, at the range of 23-28 degrees Celsius over parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from February 15 to 20, is above normal by 5-11 degrees.
Over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi, the maximum temperature has reached up to 28-33 degrees during February 18-20, which is also above normal by 5- 9 degrees, the weather department said in a statement issued on Monday evening.
IMD has cautioned that higher day temperatures may impact crops in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. “This higher day temperature might lead to an adverse effect on wheat as the crop is approaching the reproductive growth period, which is sensitive to temperature. High temperature during the flowering and maturing period leads to a loss in yield. There could be a similar impact on other standing crops and horticulture,” a senior IMD official was quoted as saying by DNA.
While the temperature in Delhi is likely to remain around 33 degree Celsius in the coming days, IMD has said that no heat wave can be seen in the city in the near term.
The temperature in the national capital is likely to rise up to 33 degree Celsius in the coming days, much before the spring festival of Holi in early March, NDTV quoted IMD senior scientist Naresh Kumar as saying. The minimum and maximum temperature in the north-west and central India, however, will not change much and there is no forecast of a heat wave in the near term, he added.
The IMD has also issued a yellow alert for the heatwave in the Konkan and Kutch regions, making it the season’s first and fairly early alert. In Ahmedabad, the temperature reached 38.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday in February for the first time since 1990. As per IMD data, the highest temperature in February was recorded at 37.8 degrees Celsius on February 24 in 2020.
The weather agency attributed the higher-than-normal maximum temperature over northwest India, Gujarat, Konkan, and Goa to the absence of any active western disturbance in February and dry spell prevailing over the plains and subdued rainfall/snowfall over hills.
“With shifting of lower level anti-cyclone towards northern parts of central Arabian Sea, it may cause maximum Temperatures to fall by 2-3 degrees Celsius over the region during next three days and no significant change thereafter. However, the maximum temperature is likely to remain above normal over many parts of the above region by 5-7 degrees Celsius during next three days,” the IMD predicted.
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