Heat & dust,Delhi in middle

Normally,the all-India average temperature in April is 29 degrees Celsius. This year,it rose to 30.7 degrees,a rise of 1.7 degrees. The preliminary report has data from 130 met stations spread across India. It is done by adding the minimum and maximum temperatures of the stations and calculating the average. According to met officials,they are in the process of reviewing the report and a final report will be drafted in some time.

Talking about the causes of such a rise in temperature,IMD’s Director (Forecast) B P Yadav said,“During April,there are a number of western disturbances that affect the country and bring down the temperature. But this year,the number was much lower.”

Apart from that,hot Westerly winds prevailed in Northwest and Central India creating heat wave conditions in parts of Haryana,Punjab,Madhya Pradesh,Delhi and other areas. Though,heat waves do occur during the month of April,the intensity was higher this time,said Met Officials. In Delhi,for example,the heat wave lasted for 11 days,out of which three days experienced severe temperatures.

This year,temperatures remained near normal till February. From March,the temperatures started shooting well above normal. In fact,March too was the hottest in a hundred years. According to a report compiled by the IMD,during March maximum and minimum temperatures remained above normal almost throughout the month over most parts of India.

The maximum temperatures increased considerably from the beginning of the third week when they crossed 40 degrees Celsius at some places in Gujarat and south Rajasthan. While the normal mean all India temperature for March is 25.5 degrees Celsius,the temperature this year was 27.3 degrees.