Scorching heat in some areas, but India gets a cooler April

This year, most parts of the country experienced a pleasant April as temperatures remained close to the normal mark. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal/Representational)

This year, most parts of the country experienced a pleasant April as temperatures remained close to the normal mark. Meteorologists have attributed the continuous inflow of western disturbances as the main reason behind a cooler April, as compared to the temperatures in the same month in the last two years.

In 2016, India had experienced the second hottest April since 1901, when the maximum temperatures rose by 1.76 degrees Celsius from normal, and the minimum temperature rose by 1.15 degrees Celsius. April 2017 was the fifth hottest in over a century, when the departure in the maximum temperature was 0.91 degrees from normal — 33.95 degrees Celsius was the average for 1980-2010 — while the minimum temperature also rose by 0.80 degrees Celsius.
This year, the maximum temperature was 0.37 degrees Celsius above normal, while the minimum temperature was 0.80 degrees Celsius above normal.

“Throughout April, there was continuous inflow of western disturbances, which helped keep temperatures close to the normal mark,” said A K Srivastava, head of climate monitoring and analysis group, IMD.

“Clear sky conditions were prevalent over central India and the western coast during this month. In addition, since most of the anti-cyclone systems formed in the Arabian Sea were positioned further away from the west coast… the moisture incursion from the sea was nearly absent, which could have otherwise brought some light showers over western coast,” said Srivastava.

In the same period, however, heavy to very heavy rains were reported in northeastern and southern states, which kept a check on temperatures.