Heatwave conditions continue; 3 sunstroke deaths in Odisha

Several parts of the country reeled under the heatwave today with sunstroke claiming three lives in Odisha, where Balangir recorded the highest temperature of 44.3 degrees Celsius.
Three Telangana towns and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh recorded temperatures of 43 degrees Celsius and above.
It was cloudy and sunny in patches in the national capital, which also witnessed light scattered rains.
The Safdarjung observatory, whose reading is considered as the official figure for the city, recorded a maximum temperature of 39.2 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average.
The minimum temperature in the city settled at 24 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year, said a MeT department official.

"Areas under Palam and Ayanagar received 9.3 mm rainfall between 8.30 AM to 5.30 PM while Safdarjung, Lodhi Road and Ridge observatories did not record any rainfall during the same period," he said.

Scorching heat wave persisted across Odisha today with at least eight places breaching the 43 degree mark.
"Sunstroke has claimed at least three lives in the state so far this summer with casualties reported from Bargarh, Angul and Balangir districts," the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said.
Closely following Balangir town, Titlagarh recorded a maximum temperature of 43.8 degrees Celsius, while it was 43.7 degrees at Bhawanipatna, 43.4 degrees at both Sambalpur and Malkangiri, 43.2 degrees at Keonjhargarh and Sonepur, 43 degrees at Sundargarh, 42.8 degrees at Jharsuguda and 42.7 degrees at both Angul and Hirakud, the MeT office said.

The maximum temperature in state capital Bhubaneswar stood at 37.8 degrees Celsius, while the mercury touched 37.5 degrees Celsius in Cuttack city, it said.
Several places in Telangana continued to reel under heatwave conditions with Adilabad, Ramagundam, Khammam and Nalgonda recording a high of 43 degrees Celsius.
The MeT has predicted thunderstorms accompanied by squall at isolated places in several districts of Telangana, including Hyderabad, in the next 48 hours.
In Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad was the hottest place with the mercury touching 43.3 degrees Celsius. The weatherman has predicted rain/thundershowers in some areas of the state.
Meanwhile, light rains occurred at isolated places in Rajasthan with Churu recording the highest temperature of 41.5 degrees Celsius. Sheo, Gida, Sunangarh and Lunkaransar regions of the state received 1 cm of rainfall each.

The temperatures hovered around normal levels in both Punjab and Haryana.
Union Territory Chandigarh recorded a maximum of 38.5 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, the MeT department said.
In Haryana, Ambala registered a high of 38.6 degrees Celsius, while Hisar's maximum was 40 degrees Celsius. In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a high of 36.2 degrees Celsius, while Ludhiana and Patiala recorded their maximum at 39 degrees Celsius and 39.1 degrees Celsius, respectively.
There was no respite from heat in Bihar with Gaya being the hottest place in the state at 42.7 degrees Celsius. The state capital, Patna which has been witnessing over 40 degrees Celsius temperature for the last couple of days, today registered 41.6 degrees Celsius.

At Bhagalpur in the eastern state, the maximum temperature was 38.6 degrees Celsius while Purnea recorded 31.8 degrees Celsius.