Hot weather continues; Bikaner, Banda sizzle at 46 deg C

Hot weather conditions continued unabated in many parts of the country today with Bikaner and Banda in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh both recording a maximum temperature of 46 degrees Celsius.
Jaisalmer and Sriganganagar in Rajasthan recorded a maximum of 44.5 degrees whereas Churu settled at 45.4 degrees Celsius, Met department said.
Delhiites continued to reel under scorching heat for the second consecutive day, with the maximum temperature settling at 42.3 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average.
In southern state of Telangana, heat wave conditions prevailed at isolated places with Hyderabad receiving sporadic rains.
"Heat wave conditions are very likely to prevail at isolated places in districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak and Khammam of Telangana during next 48 hours (i.E. May 14-15)," a Meteorological Department bulletin said.

Meanwhile, as per the State Disaster Management Department's latest data issued on May 9, around 260 people lost their lives in Telangana due to the harsh weather.

The highest number of deaths (80) was reported from Nalgonda district in the state, it said.
Heat wave conditions also persisted in western Odisha while thundersquall brought some respite to coastal districts of the state. Bolangir recorded the day's highest temperature in the state at 44.6 degrees followed by Talcher at 43.8 degrees Celsius.
The mercury, however, dropped by more than five degrees to settle at 37 degrees in the state capital Bhubaneswar.

The weather remained pleasant in Gangetic West Bengal today with the maximum temperature recorded at 38.6 degrees.
In Punjab and Haryana, the maximum temperatures stayed above 40 degrees Celsius with the blistering heat wave sweeping across the two states.
Haryana's Hisar at 44 degrees was the hottest place in the states, even as the city was lashed by overnight rains at 1.3 mm, MeT department report said.
Rains dragged mercury below the normal level in Punjab and
Haryana.
In Punjab, Amritsar received 18 mm of rains and had a high of 39.9 degrees. In Haryana, Ambala and Hisar measured 1.1mm and 93.1 mm of rainfall and recorded the maximum at 38.4 and 37 degrees, respectively.

The lower and mid hills of Himachal Pradesh experienced moderate to heavy rains. Kasauli in Solan district was the wettest place in the state recording 53 mm of rains, while Una in Shivalik foothills sizzled at 40.8 degrees.
In Rajasthan, light to moderate rains kept mercury in check in Jaipur, Bharatpur, Ajmer and Bikaner. Churu, however, reeled under hot weather conditions at 41.8 degree Celsius, followed by Sri Ganganagar at 41 degrees.