Light rains, winds bring some respite from sweltering heatwave conditions

Light rains and windy conditions brought a little respite from sweltering heat in some parts of north India on Thursday, though no major change in temperatures is expected till the weekend, according to the MeT Department.

A man riding a motorcycle was killed after a tree fell on him due to high speed winds in Haryana's Ambala city.

In Delhi, hot and dry weather prevailed with the MeT office predicting similar conditions for another two-three days.

The city recorded a high of 41.2 degrees Celsius, two notches more than normal, and a low of 29 degrees Celsius. Humidity levels oscillated between 31 and 61 per cent, a MeT official said.

Similar conditions are likely to prevail for another two-three days. Dust-raising winds gusting up to 40 kilometers per hour would keep the maximum temperature between 41 and 43 degrees Celsius, Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department, said.

The city may witness a partly cloudy sky but there would be no rain activity for the next two days.

A cyclonic circulation over western Rajasthan and a western disturbance is likely to start affecting weather in the desert state, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh Sunday onwards.

A dust storm and thunderstorm activity is likely on Sunday evening and light rain and thunderstorm on Monday, the senior scientist at the IMD said.

People of Uttar Pradesh got some respite from heatwave conditions as the maximum temperature decreased by a few notches.

State capital Lucknow registered a maximum temperature of 36.4 degrees Celsius, three degrees below the normal.

Etawah was recorded as the hottest place in the state at 44.8 degrees Celsius.

A day after light to moderate rains accompanied with duststorm in parts of Rajasthan, maximum temperatures fell in the state.

Churu and Ganganagar recorded a maximum temperature of 44.5 degrees Celsius each, followed by Bikaner and Jaisalmer at 43.1 degrees Celsius and 41.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The maximum temperature in other areas was below 40 degrees Celsius.

After slight relief, heatwave conditions prevailed in Himachal Pradesh as maximum temperatures rose by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius with Una continuing to be the hottest place at 42.2 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature in Bilaspur was recorded at 39.9 degrees Celsius, followed by 39.2 degrees in Hamirpur, 38.4 degrees in Kangra, 36.6 degrees in Sundernagar, 36.1 degrees in Mandi and 35 degrees Celsius in Solan.

Shimla recorded a maximum temperature of 27 degrees Celsius, while tourist place Manali recorded 24.8 degrees Celsius, Dalhousie 22.6 degrees Celsius and Kufri 17.7 degrees Celsius.

Chandigarh, the common capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a maximum temperature of 41 degrees Celsius, up by two notches against normal limits.

The union territory was hit by high-velocity winds accompanied by brief spell of rain on Wednesday night.

Hisar in Haryana registered a high of 43 degrees Celsius, up by two notches while Ambala's maximum settled at 40.9 degrees Celsius on Thursday.

Narnaul recorded a high of 41 degrees Celsius.

Ludhiana in Punjab registered a maximum of 41.6 degrees Celsius, up by three notches against normal.

The maximum temperature in Jammu was recorded at 40.4 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature in the city was registered at 27 degrees Celsius.

Most parts of Odisha got respite from the sweltering heatwave, with a sharp fall in the maximum temperature.

The temperature breached 40 degrees Celsius-mark in only seven places on Thursday, according to the Meteorological Centre here.

Bhubaneswar recorded a maximum temperature of 34.7 degrees Celsius. However, relative humidity in the city stood at 98 per cent, the weather office said.

In Cuttack city, the maximum temperature dropped to 36 degrees Celsius from 40.5 degrees Celsius recorded on Wednesday.