Rains keep mercury near normal in several parts of country

Rains or thunderstorm kept the mercury near normal levels in several parts of the country even as 12 places in Odisha and seven in Rajasthan recorded a maximum in excess of 40 degrees Celsius.
Hirakud and Malkangiri in Odisha recorded the maximum temperature in the country at 44 degrees Celsius each.
Rain or thunderstorm occurred at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh, West Rajasthan, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kerala, an IMD report said.
In the national capital, the maximum temperature was recorded at 41.2 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average, while the minimum rose to settle at 30.6, four notches up, a MeT department official said.

The city did not receive rainfall since yesterday.
Three other metro cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai recorded a maximum of 34.8, 35.7, and 40.6 degrees Celsius respectively.

Light rain or thundershower at isolated places over eastern Uttar Pradesh brought down the temperature, where Jhansi was the hottest place at 42.5 degrees Celsius.
The temperature fell appreciably in Gorakhpur division, and was markedly below normal in Kanpur division, appreciably below normal in Faizabad, Lucknow, Agra divisions, below normal in Gorakhpur, Varanasi Bareilly, and Moradabad.
Temperatures in Gangetic West Bengal remained below 36 degrees Celsius while the Sub-Himalayan districts received widespread rainfall.

In Darjeeling Hills, the maximum was 17.0 degrees, while the minimum was 11.0 degrees. Jalpaiguri received 70.4 mm rainfall, while in Cooch Behar the precipitation was recorded at 40.4 mm, the regional Met department said.
In Jharkhand, rains brought temperature near normal in several districts.
Capital city Ranchi received 12.2 mm rainfall and recorded a maximum temperature of 36.2 degrees Celsius, whereas Jamshedpur received 11.6 mm and recorded 42.8 degrees Celsius.
In Rajasthan, however, at least seven places recorded a maximum of over 40 degrees Celsius where Kota remained the hottest at 43.8 followed by Sriganganagar at 43.5.
Churu recorded a maximum of 42.7 degrees Celsius whereas Jaipur and Bikaner recorded 42 degree Celsius. Barmer recorded a maximum of 41.2, Jodhpur 40.6, and Jaisalmer 40.5.

In Punjab and Haryana also, temperatures rose and hovered above 40 degrees Celsius at some places after a few days of respite. Hisar in Haryana remained the hottest place at 42.5, two notches above normal.
Chandigarh recorded 41.1 degrees, three notches up. Karnal 41 degrees, two notches up, while Ambala's maximum settled at 41.6, three notches above normal. In Punjab, Amritsar recorded 41.6 degrees, up by three notches, Ludhiana 41.7, and Patiala 41.2 degrees Celsius.
In western Odisha, 12 places recorded a maximum of above 40 degrees Celsius while Coastal parts experienced sultry weather though the maximum remained below 40 degrees Celsius.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu convened a
high-level emergency meeting to review the flood situation which remained grim in four districts in the state.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today told Assam Assembly that the current wave of flood has claimed 12 lives and affected nearly 16 lakh people across the state.
Parts of north Bengal received moderate rainfall, while the monsoon remained subdued in most parts of Gangetic West Bengal. Darjeeling received 26.3 mm of rainfall, highest in the state during the period and Bankura registered the day's highest temperature at 33.2 degrees Celsius.
Major rivers in Uttar Pradesh are flowing above the danger mark as heavy rains lashed many parts of the state even as Jahnsi received 12 cm of rainfall followed by Auraiya at 11 cm.

Intermittent rain in Patna and other parts of Bihar kept the mercury at a comfortable level with Patna recording a maximum temperature of 32.2 degrees and Gaya 31.8 degrees Celsius.