The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that temperatures in several states were recorded to be below normal for this time of the year with a number of areas receiving rainfall and the southwest monsoon is advancing with favourable conditions,.
India won't see any heatwave in the next five days at least, the weather department confirmed. According to IMD, the highest temperature in the country on Saturday afternoon was recorded at Vijaywada and Gannavaram in coastal Andhra Pradesh at 41.4 degress Celsius.
Delhi recorded temperatures several notches below normal on Saturday. Maximum temperatures of 36.8 degrees Celsius, which was three notches below normal, 38.2 degrees Celsius and 35.3 degrees Celsius were recorded by three weather stations in different parts of the city.
Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the regional forecasting centre of the India Meteorological Department here, said the region is not likely to witness a heat wave till June 15.
The maximum temperature will rise by two to three degrees Celsius but it is expected to remain below the 40 degrees Celsius-mark till June 10, he said. Thereafter, moisture-laden easterly winds due to a probable low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal will bring rains in Delhi-NCR on June 12 and June 13, he said.
There is a possibility of a thunderstorm in Delhi on Sunday and the maximum and minimum temperatures will hover around 37 and 26 degrees Celsius, reports news agency PTI.
Residents of Mumbai and the adjoining areas woke up to a rainy Saturday as pre-monsoon showers lashed these parts.According to the IMD, the Colaba weather station reported 18.6 mm rainfall in the 24 hours till 8.30 am on Saturday, while the Santacruz weather bureau recorded 64.9 mm rainfall during the same period.
The IMD predicted that the skies are likely to remain generally cloudy and there is a possibility of light to moderate rains or thundershowers in Mumbai.
Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata witness rains
On Saturday, rainfall was also witnessed in parts of Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune.
The IMD said the southwest monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as well as most parts of the Bay of Bengal. It also said that conditions are becoming favourable for further advancement of monsoon in these regions.
In the north, several parts of Rajasthan- Barmer, Jaisalmer, Sikar, Ajmer and Kota -- recorded rainfall in the 24 hours till Saturday evening, a MeT department official said.
On Saturday, cloudy sky was witnessed in several parts including state capital Jaipur due to which maximum temperature dropped by few degrees in most places.
Churu was the hottest with 40.9 degrees Celsius followed by 39.6 in Bikaner, 39.1 in Kota, 38.9 in both Jaisalmer and Ganganagar, 38 in Jodhpur, 37.7 in Jaipur and 36.1 in Ajmer.
The Met department has forecast cloudy sky and strong winds in many districts including Barmer, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Sriganganagar, Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur and Jaipur in the next 24 hours.
The maximum temperature in Haryana and Punjab on Saturday continued to hover well below the normal limits. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a maximum temperature of 32.7 degrees Celsius, six notches below normal, according to the Meteorological Department there.
In Haryana, Ambala's maximum settled at 34.2 degree C, five degrees below normal while Karnal recorded a high of 33.5 deg C, six points below normal.
Hisar's maximum settled at 37 deg C, five notches below normal while Narnaul registered a high of 33.5 deg C, eight notches below normal.
Amritsar in Punjab, which was lashed by rains, recorded a steep fall in mercury. The maximum temperature in the holy city settled at 29.5 deg C, down eleven notches against normal limits.
Ludhiana registered a maximum of 30.6 deg C, nine notches below normal while Patiala's maximum settled at 35 deg C, five notches below normal limits.
The Met department has predicted that on Sunday heavy rainfall is very likely at isolated places in Andaman and Nicobar islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Kerala.
Due to the possibility of strong winds reaching upto 45-55 kmph, the IMD has advised fishermen to not venture into the sea in parts of the Arabian sea, south Bay of Bengal and north Andaman Sea.
(With agency inputs)
