Southwest monsoon hits Kerala ahead of schedule, rainfall in different parts of India

Rains occurred in many parts of the country as the southwest monsoon hit Kerala and the northeast two days ahead of the scheduled arrival, while three minor boys died in a lightning strike in Bihar. Cyclone Mora, which hit the Bangladesh coast today, aided the advance of the monsoon, the India Meteorological Department said.

However, intense heat returned to most parts of Odisha after a respite for three days with Angul becoming the hottest place in the state recording a high of 43.7 degrees Celsius. Heavy rains have been reported from various parts of Kerala with Mavelikkara recording 13 cm rainfall. Alapuzha, Haripad and Kayamkulam received 9 cm of rain. It was a humid day in the national capital with the maximum temperature settling at 37 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season's average. The minimum temperature was recorded at 25 degrees Celsius, two notches below the normal while the humidity level oscillated between 82 and 39 per cent.

Rains at a few places in east Rajasthan and in isolated areas of western parts of the state brought some respite to people from heatwave conditions, even as Jaisalmer sizzled at 45 degrees Celsius.

Ajmer received six cm rainfall followed by Sallopat (Banswara) and Ajmer Tehsil which recorded five cm each. Sajjangarh in Banswara received four cm rainfall, while Begu in Chhittorgarh and Nasirabad in Ajmer both got three cm of rains. Barmer recorded a high of 44.6 degrees Celsius followed by Bikaner 43.6 degrees Celsius, Jodhpour 42.5 degrees Celsius, Churu 42 degrees Celsius and Ganganagar 40.9 degrees Celsius.

Day temperatures in various parts of Punjab and Haryana remained below normal today with Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, recording a high of 38.9 degrees Celsius. Ambala in Haryana recorded a high of 39.9 degrees Celsius, while Hisar's maximum settled at 39.6 degrees Celsius. In Punjab, Ludhiana recorded a high of 39 degrees Celsius while Patiala registered a maximum temperature of 39.5 degrees Celsius. Banda in east Uttar Pradesh recorded a maximum temperature of 43.4 degrees Celsius.

Rains continued in several parts of Himachal Pradesh leading to marginal drop in minimum temperatures in the state. Heavy rains lashed several parts of the state and Ghumarwin was the wettest with 74 mm rains while Bijahi and Arki recorded 51mm and 48 mm rainfall respectively. Minimum temperatures dropped marginally with Manali and Keylong recording a low of 7.4 degrees Celsius and 7.6 degrees Celsius respectively. Day temperatures remained steady and Una was the hottest with a high of 38.5 degrees Celsius while Bhuntar and

Sundernagar recorded maximum temperatures of 33.2 degrees Celsius and 33.1 degrees Celsius respectively. Three minor boys dies and another sustained burn injuries after lightning struck them at a village in Jamui district of Bihar where light to moderate rainfall occurred at a few places. In Patna, 0.7 mm of rainfall brought the maximum temperature down to 34.6 degrees Celsius while as Gaya recorded the highest maximum temperature of 38.9 degrees Celsius.

The mercury breached the 40-degree mark in at least 10 places of Odisha with Bhubaneswar recording a maximum temperature of 42.7 degrees Celsius. Nalgonda in Telangana sizzled at 42 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature in the state, even as a few towns saw a fall in mercury. Ramagundam recorded a high of 41 degrees Celsius followed by Adilabad 40.5 degrees Celsius.

Maximum temperatures were above normal in parts of Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal and Sikkim and was below normal in some places of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Rainfall occurred at most places over coastal Karnataka, and at isolated places over Tamil Nadu. But, dry weather prevailed over coastal Andhra Pradesh.