Monsoon further advanced into central and western India Tuesday with several places in Rajasthan receiving heavy rainfall, but dry weather prevailed in most parts of eastern and northern states.
Maximum temperatures were above the normal at many areas in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, Jodhpur in Rajasthan and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh were some of the hottest places in the country.
In Delhi, dry conditions pushed the mercury up and rains will continue to elude the national capital for the next three to four days, the weatherman said.
Monsoon may take a week longer to reach Delhi. Normally, the wind system reaches the city by June 29.
Delhi recorded a high of 39 degrees Celsius, two notches above the normal, and a low of 27.8 degrees Celsius.Humidity levels oscillated between 53 and 79 per cent.
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Jammu and Srinagar also saw their maximum temperatures increase from 32 degrees Celsius and 24.7 degrees Celsius on Monday to 39.8 degrees Celsius and 27.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, respectively.
In Rajasthan, Jaisalmer recorded 55 mm rain Tuesday, while one to seven centimetre of rainfall was recorded in the past 24 hours in many parts of the desert state.
Jodhpur was the hottest place in the state at 41.5 degrees Celsius. It was 41.1 in Bikaner and 41 degrees Celsius in Churu.
Monsoon further advanced in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
In Madhya Pradesh, monsoon rains advanced towards Indore in the western part of the state, a MeT official said. On Monday, the eastern and southern areas of the state were lashed by rains.
Monsoon is expected to cover the entire Madhya Pradesh by July 3 and is likely to reach capital Bhopal in the next 48 hours, IMD-Bhopal said.
The south-west monsoon entered Gujarat with southern parts of the state receiving showers, a Met department official said.
Monsoon, which also arrived in southern Saurashtra, will advance to remaining parts of the state soon, according to the IMD.
For Mumbai, which has been reeling under water shortage, there was good news from the Met department that has declared onset of the south-west monsoon for the city.
Monsoon, which generally arrives in Mumbai on June 10 every year, is behind schedule by more than two weeks, the longest delay in the last 10 years.
If the monsoon fails to keep its date with Mumbai, citizens might have to face another cut in water supply, a civic body official said.
The northern limit of the south-west monsoon is expected to cover not only Mumbai but also entire Maharashtra, besides some parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
In slight respite from heat, a few places in Uttar Pradesh received rainfall with state capital Lucknow witnessing cloudy skies.
The state capital recorded a maximum temperature of 38.6 degrees Celsius and Allahabad was the hottest place in the state at 42.5 degrees Celsius, the Met said.
Rainfall was recorded in Sultanpur (3.0 mm), Basti (8.2 mm), Kanpur (26.2 mm) and Hardoi (22 mm).
Maximum temperatures hovered below normal limits at most places in Haryana and Punjab.
In Haryana, Ambala recorded a high of 37.9 degrees Celsius and Amritsar in Punjab 37.6 degrees Celsius.
Rain brought some relief to Himachal Pradesh residents from scorching heat as the maximum temperatures fell by two to three notches on Tuesday, the MeT department said.