The maximum temperature in Delhi on Saturday (March 19) was 36.6 degrees Celsius, which was six degrees above normal.
Several parts of India rocked under the early summer heat, with highs exceeding 35 degrees in various cities. Summer heat has set in across the country and mercury levels are on a steady upward trend. On Saturday March 19, the maximum temperature recorded by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in Delhi was 36.6 degrees Celsius, six levels above normal.
The highest temperature recorded in Madhya Pradesh on Friday was 43 degrees Celsius and in Odisha the mercury hit 41 degrees Celsius on the same day for the first time this summer. This week, high temperatures were above normal even in the Himalayan states and foothills.
Why the mercury is rising and what’s behind this year’s scorching March heatwave As the sun moves north and depending on climatology, it’s March, the region that s he stretch from Maharashtra to Odisha is a hot zone.
In its March-May seasonal forecast released on March 1, the IMD had already predicted that it would most likely expect above-average high temperatures in many parts of western and central India. and would therefore expect a heat wave stretching from southern Gujarat across Maharashtra to Odisha.
Regarding the reasons for the heat wave, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the above normal temperatures were due to the wind patterns in these regions. “Lower level winds in these areas are south-north, bringing warmer air out of the land (as opposed to north-south winds, which bring cooler air,” he said. .
Winds blow from the southeast over the southern area of the peninsula, mainly Karnataka, Telangana, with weak circulation favoring the emergence of heat from south to north from Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and up to the Vidarbha area of Maharashtra .
Mohapatra said that even for Saurashtra, Kutch and Rajasthan, southerly winds cause heat waves. Meanwhile, meteorologists believe summer will be warmer this year according to global metrics used to measure weather conditions.
As Oceans Warm, Ocean Cold Waves Disappear A new study has shown that ocean cold waves become less intense and more rare as the atmosphere and oceans warm. According to a study published in the American Geophysical Union, the oceans today experience only 25% fewer cold spells than in the 1980s, and cold spells are about 15% less intense.
The researchers found that over the past decade, around 10 days of cold spells per year have occurred worldwide, a notable decrease from around 40 days per year in 1985.