After logging a drastic shift in the weather pattern in the month of March, India is set to witness above normal heatwave days in many regions from April onwards, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Saturday.
IMD said that during the hot weather season, from April to June, most parts of the country are expected to witness above normal maximum temperatures, but noted that pockets of northwest India and the southern peninsular are likely to log normal to below normal maximum temperatures.
Issuing its bulletin for overall weather outlook for April to June, IMD said central India, east India and northwest India will see a pattern of above normal heatwave days in these months. In April, as many as 10 states are likely to experience such drastic temperature shifts, as per the weather office.
| These states are likely to witness above normal heatwave in April, says IMD |
| Bihar |
| Jharkhand |
| East Uttar Pradesh, pockets of west Uttar Pradesh |
| Odisha |
| Gangetic West Bengal |
| North Chattisgarh |
| West Maharashtra |
| Gujarat |
| Punjab |
| Haryana |
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IMD also noted that most of India except pockets of northwest, central and east India will record normal to below normal monthly minimum temperature. Average rainfall in April will be recorded normal over the country as a whole, IMD said, adding that “normal to above normal rainfall is expected over most parts of northwest, Central, Peninsular India, whereas below normal rainfall is likely over east and Northeast India and pockets of west coast India.”
The heatwave warning for the hot weather season comes after March logged radical temperature shifts compared to historical averages. While IMD had predicted March to be warmer than usual in most parts of the country, the first two weeks of the month were indeed in line with the forecast. However, in the later half of the month, the temperature was recorded cooler than normal due to western disturbances, making this March among the top ten coldest March in the past 73 years.
