Even as Maharashtra is reeling under sweltering heat, the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) summer forecast has hotter days in store for the state along with North India, Central India, Northwest India, Karnataka and parts of the Gangetic plain. Between April and June, average day temperatures in these regions and states is likely to be warmer than normal by 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius, the IMD said in its summer season outlook.
The IMD's forecast also stated that there is about a 44% probability that maximum temperatures in the core heatwave zone will be above normal. The core heatwave zone spans Punjab, foothills in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Vidarbha and coastal Andhra.
In 2018, the IMD had predicted a cooler summer for eastern and southern India but this year, the El Nino weather phenomenon, which is in its weak phase right now, will trigger more heatwaves in other regions of the country.
"Based on assessment of global as well as local conditions, the impact of El Nino is evident. The warm sea surface temperature over equatorial Pacific ocean causes this phenomenon and results in hot days and heatwaves in our country," said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, senior scientist, IMD.
Rajasthan and the western region is likely to be worst affected by the scorching heat. The maximum temperature anomaly expected to be above 1 degree Celsius. In 2016, Phalodi in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district had shattered temperature records and become the hottest town in India at 51 degree Celsius. Another Rajasthan town, Churu, has regularly touched the 50 degree Celsius mark.
The signs of an unrelenting summer are already evident in Maharashtra. Almost all cities in Vidarbha and Marathwada recorded a temperature of 43 degree Celsius. Amravati, Chandrapur, Nagpur, Wardha, Parbhani and Nanded all recorded a maximum temperature of 43 degree Celsius on Monday. Beed was in fact the hottest town in the country on Sunday. The maximum temperature was 43.5 degree Celsius.
Akola, Brahmapuri, Malegaon, Solapur, Jalgaon, Yavatmal and Pune recorded temperatures of 40 degree Celsius and above.
SIZZLING PLACES
Hottest towns/cities in Maharashtra
City – Temperature (deg C)
Amravati – 43
Chandrapur – 43
Nagpur – 43
Wardha – 43
Parbhani – 43
Nanded – 43
Malegaon – 42
Akola – 42
Brahmapuri – 42
Pune – 39
Nasik – 37
Mumbai – 32.1
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