Heatwave: No respite; 29-yr high in Kerala

Heatwave continued to sweep central and southern states of the country with Malampuzha in Kerala recording the highest temperature in 29 years at 41.8 degrees Celsius, though thundershowers in parts of Telangana gave some respite to the residents braving searing heat.
The western Odisha town of Sonepur was the hottest place in the country, recording the maximum temperature at 46.5 degrees Celsius. Bolangir in the state recorded 46 degrees Celsius and Titlagarh 45.5 degrees.
Dry weather prevailed in north and central India. Parts of Odisha and Rayalaseema continued to reel under intense heatwave conditions.
Delhi had a pleasant morning with the minimum temperature settling at 21.2 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal for the season. Day temperature in the city rose to a maximum of 39 degrees Celsius.

Elsewhere, day temperatures hovered above normal in parts of Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, interior Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha.
Malampuzha in Kerala recorded the highest temperature in 29 years. The previous maximum of 41.8 deg C was recorded on April 15, 1987, IMD officials said.

The temperatures were above normal in Alappuzha, Kozhikode, Palakkad, Kannur, Ernakulam and Kottayam districts.
Several areas have reported drinking water shortage.
In Telangana, which has been reeling under intense heatwave for past three weeks, thundershowers in few parts of Hyderabad and Medak brought some relief to people.

However, heatwave conditions prevailed over many parts of Karimnagar, Khammam and Nizamabad districts. The highest maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius was recorded at Nizamabad and Ramagundam.
The MeT department said heatwave conditions are "very likely" to prevail over many parts in all districts of Telangana during the next two days.
At least 49 people have died due to heatstroke in Telangana, as per state Disaster Management department.
In Bihar, the Patna district administration declared summer vacation in all schools from May 5 in view of the prevailing heatwave conditions. The city sweltered at 44.1 degrees Celsius, which was also the maximum in the state.

Bhagalpur and Gaya recorded maximums of 44 and 43.1 deg C, respectively.
Heat wave conditions continued to sweep Jharkhand with mercury in Dhanbad and Deoghar districts settling at 43 deg C mark. Steel hubs of Jamshedpur and Bokaro had a maximum of 42.9 and 41 degree C, respectively. Lakshadweep too witnessed dry weather conditions.
In the north, Punjab and Haryana recorded the season's maximum temperatures that hovered around 40 degrees mark.
The maximum in Chandigarh was 39.1 deg C. Hisar was the hottest at 41 deg C in Haryana. In Punjab, Ludhiana and Patiala braved hot weather at 40.1 deg C.

Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana,
recorded a maximum of 37.2 degrees Celsius.
In Haryana, Hisar recorded its maximum at 41.2 degrees Celsius, while Ambala and Narnaul registered their maximum at 37.1 degrees Celsius and 39 degrees Celsius respectively.
In Punjab, Amritsar and Ludhiana recorded maximum of 37.2 degrees Celsius each while Patiala recorded its maximum at 38 degrees Celsius.
The weather department has forecast light to moderate rains at a few places in Punjab and Haryana during the next 48 hours.
Moderate rains occurred at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh as monsoon remained weak causing rise in temperatures.

With 30 mm rainfall, Hamirpur remained the wettest in the state followed by tourist resorts of Kasauli and Dalhousie received 25 mm and 20 mm rains, respectively. Shima recorded 6 mm rainfall.
While Una at 39 degrees Celsius recorded the highest temperature, tourist town of Manali with 11.2 degrees Celsius was coldest in the state. Shimla recorded a minimum temperature of 16.4 deg c and Dharamsala 17.2 degree C
In Uttar Pradesh, light to moderate rain besides thundershowers occurred at isolated places.
The weatherman has forecast more rain and thundershowers over eastern region of the state accompanied with squall at isolated places.