Temp slips in north India, 17 killed in dust storm in UP

Temperatures slipped by few notches in several parts of the north India today bringing some relief for people from sweltering heat even as Rajasthan continues to reel under heatwave conditions with 17 deaths reported in Uttar Pradesh due to death storm.

Uttar Pradesh witnessed dust storm and thunderstorm accompanied with light to moderate rains at isolated places.

17 people were killed and 11 injured after a deadly dust storm hit the state last evening.

A UP government spokesperson today said that most of the deaths were caused due to falling of trees and house collapse.

Moradabad bore the maximum brunt of the storm, with as many as seven deaths reported from the district, followed by three deaths from Sambhal, the state government spokesperson said.

Day temperatures were below normal in Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Bareilly, Kanpur, Moradabad, and Meerut, according to the MeT department.

Jhansi recorded a maximum temperature of 45.4 degrees Celsius, it said.

The department predicted that thunderstorm and dust storm accompanied with gusty winds were likely to occur at isolated places in the state on June 3.

Rajasthan's Bikaner recorded a maximum temperature of 47.4 degrees Celsius highest in the state which heatwave condition is prevailing.

Dust storm and thunder storm also occurred at isolated places in Jaipur and Udaipur divisions since yesterday.

Churu, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Sriganganagar and Kota registered maximum temperatures of 47, 46.8, 45.6, 45.3 and 45 degrees Celsius, respectively, according to the MeT department here.

Jaipur, Pilani and Ajmer recorded a high of 44, 43.7 and 43.5 degrees Celsius, respectively, it said.

The MeT department has predicted dust storm and thunderstorm accompanied with light rains at isolated places in eastern parts of the state in the next 24 hours.

The mercury slipped a few notches in the national capital a day after a dust storm hit Delhi-NCR.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 26.6 degrees Celsius, one notch below the normal and the maximum temperature was recorded at 38.3 degrees Celsius, two notches below the average, a MeT official said.

The dust storm that last night hit Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, and Ghaziabad, had brought the maximum temperature down from 42 degrees Celsius to 35 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab and Haryana, maximum temperatures hovered a few notches below normal in several parts of the two neighbouring states following overnight rains.

Chandigarh, joint capital of both states, recorded a maximum temperature of 36.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. The city recorded 3.4 mm of rainfall, according to a report by the MeT department here.

Among other places in Haryana, Ambala's maximum temperature was 35 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal. It recorded 12.7 mm of rainfall.

Hisar experienced hot weather conditions at 41.8 degrees Celsius while Bhiwani recorded a high of 43 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab, Amritsar and Ludhiana recorded maximum temperatures at 39.3 and 37.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Patiala's maximum was 35.4 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal. It recorded 10.8 mm of rainfall