Most districts in south and north Bengal received light to moderate rainfall. (File)
New Delhi:
Temperatures rose in most parts of northern India on Friday, with mercury hovering near 40 degrees Celsius as the southwest monsoon progressed further and reached West Bengal.
The southwest monsoon has arrived in West Bengal, hitting most parts of the state and bringing moderate precipitation, according to the Calcutta Regional Weather Center.
The arrival of the monsoon was facilitated by a low pressure belt formed on the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, according to the press release.
Kolkata has received 38.4 mm of rain since 8:30 am, while most districts in south and north Bengal have received light to moderate rainfall, said a spokesman for the office of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
The districts that received light to moderate precipitation in South Bengal are East Burdwan, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Nadia, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas districts, and Kolkata.
In northern Bengal, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and parts of southern Dinajpur received light to moderate precipitation.
According to the MeT center, similar weather conditions will prevail over the next 24 hours.
The IMD, in its All India Weather Summary and Forecast Bulletin, said: “Conditions are becoming favorable for the continued advance of the southwest monsoon in other parts of the central Arabian Sea, remaining parts of Maharashtra (including Mumbai), Odisha and West Bengal, some other parts of Chhattisgarh and parts of southern Gujarat, southern Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar in the coming 48 hours. “
IMD said thunderstorms with lightning and gusts of wind are most likely in isolated locations in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan on Saturday.
In the nation’s capital, mercury passed the 42 degree Celsius mark on Friday, a few days after the city was whipped by rain and thunderstorms.
The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded a maximum temperature of 41.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.
The weather stations of Palam and Pusa recorded their maximum temperatures at 42 degrees Celsius and 42.7 degrees Celsius, respectively.
There is possibility of partly cloudy skies on Saturday. Maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be 41 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius, respectively, the meteorological department said.
Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the regional forecast center in the Indian meteorological department, said the region should not witness a heat wave until June 15.
Large parts of Uttar Pradesh neighboring Delhi have also turned in scorching heat.
Agra was the warmest place in the state with a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, followed by 40.9 degrees Celsius in Jhansi, 40.8 degrees Celsius in Aligarh, 40.2 degrees Celsius in Hamirpur and 40 degrees Celsius in Bareilly, the meteorological department (MeT) told me.
Rain or thunderstorms are likely to occur in parts of the state in the next 24 hours, he said.
Maximum temperatures in Haryana and Punjab have settled above normal limits in most places.
Hisar, with a maximum temperature of 42.8 degrees Celsius – two notches above normal, was the warmest place in the two states, the MeT department said.
In Haryana, Narnaul recorded a maximum temperature of 41 degrees Celsius, Ambala 40.1 degrees Celsius and Karnal 39 degrees Celsius.
The temperatures in Ambala and Karnal were a notch above normal.
In Punjab, Ludhiana and Patiala recorded above normal maximum temperatures at 41.3 degrees Celsius and 41 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The maximum for Amritsar was 40.2 degrees Celsius.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a maximum of 39.6 degrees Celsius, according to the meteorological department.
In Rajasthan, mercury continued its upward trend.
Sri Ganganagar recorded the state’s highest maximum temperature at 45 degrees Celsius, the MeT department said.
Bikaner recorded a maximum of 44.7 degrees Celsius, followed by 43.7 degrees Celsius in Jaisalmer and 43 degrees Celsius each in Barmer and Jodhpur, the statement said.
Daytime temperatures in Churu, Jaipur and Ajmer were 42 degrees Celsius, 41.5 degrees Celsius, and 40.9 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Light to moderate rain has occurred in parts of the state, the MeT department said.
Kekri (Ajmer), Nimbahera and Badi Sadri (both in Chittorgarh), Choti Sadri and Dariabad (both in Pratapgarh) received 3 cm of rain each; Nainwa (Bundi) and Sarward (Ajmer) 2 cm each and a few other places recorded precipitation less than 2 cm between Thursday and Friday morning.
Sri Ganganagar recorded 14.2 mm of precipitation and Jodhpur 9.4 mm from Friday morning to evening.
The meteorological department has forecast light rain in isolated places in the districts of Bharatpur, Banswara, Dholpur, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Sirohi, Barmer, Hanumangarh, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Pali and Jalore.
He also predicted a heat wave in Bikaner, Nagaur, Churu and Sri Ganganagar during the period.
