Heatwave intensifies; Titlagarh sizzles at record 48.5 deg C

Mercury continued to soar today in major parts of the country with Odisha's Titlagarh scorching at 48.5 degrees Celsius even as four districts in Assam were hit by the first wave of floods affecting around 45,000 people.
Titlagarh has been experiencing extreme heat for the past several days and today the town recorded its highest temperature for the month of April in the last 17 years.
"Titlagarh had crossed 50 degree Celsius mark in 2003 on June 5 when it posted 50.1 degrees Celsius. Also, for the month of April, it is the highest since 1999 when on April 30 that year the place had registered 48.1 degrees Celsius," Director of Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar Sarat Sahu said.

The Odisha government has confirmed four deaths due to sun stroke, however, the suspected casualty list in the state due to heat wave has grown from 79 to 88.
Bihar too continued to sizzle under intense heatwave even though mercury dipped marginally at several places, including in the capital town Patna.
Patna remained the hottest place in the state for the second day today with maximum temperature at 41.1 degrees Celsius against 43.3 degrees C yesterday, while Gaya recorded the highest day temperature at 41.1 degrees C.

Steel city Jamshedpur in Jharkhand also scorched at 45.8 degrees Celsius.
In national capital Delhi, however, the mercury remained below 40 degree Celsius mark. The maximum temperature settled at 37.3 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal, while the humidity level in the air remained on the lower side, oscillating between 13 per cent and 56 per cent.

In West Bengal, Bankura district touched the highest at 43.8 degrees Celsius while Kolkata recorded an above normal 40.2 degrees Celsius, even as the MeT department forecast heatwave to continue for at least another four days.
In districts of Gangetic West Bengal, the mercury hovered slightly above the 40 degree Celsius mark, they said.
Burdwan, Asansol and Sriniketan recorded 41.5, 41.6 and 41.7 degrees Celsius, respectively today.
In south India, Chennai, Hyderabad and several other cities recorded temperature above 40 degrees Celsius.
Hisar in Haryana recorded a high of 39.4 degrees Celsius. Chandigarh braved hot weather at 35.3 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a high of 35.8 degrees Celsius while Ludhiana and Patiala recorded maximum of 36.5 degrees Celsius and 36.6 degrees Celsius respectively.
With the southwest monsoon active over the state,
rain-soaked Odisha is likely to receive further downpour in the northern parts of the till tomorrow due to a well marked low pressure area.
Kujanga in Jagatsinghpur district received 10 cm rains, followed by Tensa and Panposh (Sundargarh district), Kirmira and Laikera (Jharsuguda district) each receiving 7 cm, and Chandbali in Bhadrak district recording 5 cm rainfall.
Heavy to very heavy rains occurred at a few places over Konkan region and Goa and at isolated places over Marathwada region. Heavy rains occurred at isolated places in Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka.

A few places in Himachal Pradesh received scattered rains while the weather remained dry in rest of the state inspite of overcast condition, causing marginal rise in mercury.
Light to moderate rainfall occurred at a few places in northern Bihar, even as humidity remained high in parts of the state. Humidity level was highest in Purnea at 93 per cent, while Patna, which received 5 mm rainfall recorded 83 per cent humidity.