The ongoing heat wave is expected to intensify in the coming days with day temperatures likely to remain above normal in parts of north-west, central India and also parts of south India.
According to Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Metrology (IITM), heat-wave conditions will develop over central India during April 2-6, while during the remaining part of the month, near-normal day temperatures might prevail over most parts of country.
Central India comprises Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
However, the southern parts of the country might remain outside the purview of this moderation in temperature in the latter half of April. The IITM forecast showed that from April 12 to 21, temperatures would remain high over southern India.
Humidity would also remain high during the next 15-20 days across most parts of the country because of western disturbance. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its first ever summer season outlook released last week said temperatures in all the 36 met subdivisions across the country would be more than average during the April-June summer season, with temperatures in north-west India expected to be at least one degree above normal.
The intense heat wave conditions with above normal temperatures are expected to prevail also over central India, mainly due to the continuance of strong El Niño conditions. El Niño is a weather phenomenon that disturbs the formation of clouds due to warm waters off western coast of south America.
North-west India includes Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan etc. The dreaded El Niño has so far not only impacted 2014 and 2015 southwest monsoon season in India, but also led to warmer winter season in 2015.
Records show that 2015 has been the third warmest year ever recorded since 1901.
IMD's predictions showed that the seasonal average maximum temperature from April 2016 to June 2016 over coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Kerala sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and even in the north-eastern states is expected to be higher by 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius.
A warmer-than-usual summer season might further aggravate the water crisis and lead to further drop in reservoirs levels, which are already at 27 per cent of their full capacity.
A long, dry and intense summer will also deteriorate the drinking water situation in many parts of the country.
