Mercury rises; Bhawanipatna in Odisha hottest at 44.7 deg C

After a brief respite, mercury rose to 40 degrees Celsius and above in several parts of the country with Bhawanipatna in Odisha recording a maximum of 44.7 degrees Celsius today.
Heatwave conditions persisted in most parts of Odisha with the coastal areas receiving little rain. Bhawanipatna was followed by 43.8 degrees in Hirakud and 39.4 degrees in Bhubaneshwar in the state, Met said.
In the national capital, mercury inched closer to the 40 degrees Celsius-mark while high humid conditions caused discomfort to people.
The Safdarjung observatory, the reading of which is considered as the official figure for the city recorded a maximum temperature of 39.8 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal while the minimum temperature settled at 26.6 degrees, normal for this time of the year.

Churu remained the hottest place in Rajasthan with a maximum of 44.3 degrees Celsius followed by Kota at 43.3 degrees.
Bikaner, Jaipur, Ajmer, Pilani and Barmer recorded 43, 42.6, 41.3, 41.1 and 39.8 degrees Celsius respectively, according to Met department.

Light to moderate rainfall occurred at isolated places in Jaipur, Kota and Bikaner divisions in the state.
After few days of relief due to showers in Punjab and Haryana, the states witnessed hot conditions today with the maximum temperatures crossing the 40 degrees Celsius mark at most places.
The Union Territory Chandigarh experienced a hot day recording a high of 40.1 degrees, one notch above normal limits, the MeT Department report said here.

In Haryana, Hisar recorded a high of 41.8 degrees while Ambala's maximum settled at 41.1 degrees. In Punjab, Ludhiana braved a hot day at 41.8 degrees Celsius.
Rain and thundershowers occurred at some places in Uttar Pradesh providing respite from the scorching heat as temperatures mostly remained normal in the state. Banda remained the hottest place with maximum temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius.
Residents in Rajasthan continued to reel under sweltering
conditions with Sri Ganganagar recording the maximum temperature at 45 degrees Celsius, followed by Jaisalmer at 41 and Bikaner at 40.8 degrees. The weather office said heavy rainfall may occur at isolated places in the state tomorrow.

Sultry conditions added to the discomfort of the people in Haryana and Punjab as rains gave a miss to both the states. The weathermen though said they are likely to witness rainfall tomorrow.
Light rains and thundershowers occurred at isolated places over Uttar Pradesh yesterday, but that did not affect the temperatures much.
Heavy rains drenched Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, while humid conditions prevailed in rest of the state. Jalpaiguri was the wettest place in the state, recording 103 mm of rainfall, while Cooch Behar and Darjeeling got 17 mm and 10.3 mm of rains, respectively.