Pre-monsoon rains brought down temperatures in some states while monsoon seemed set to hit Kerala within 48 hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.
The temperature in several parts of Kerala rose on Tuesday but on Wednesday evening, dark clouds formed at many places, suggesting possible rains.
An IMD official forecast rains across Kerala in the next 24 hours. Fishermen have been warned about winds blowing 45 to 55 km an hour on the coast.
Weather officials are analysing the data recorded at 14 weather stations located at the Lakshadweep, Kerala and Mangalore in Karnataka. The onset of monsoon is declared on the basis of amount of rain received at these 14 stations. Wind and cloud formations are other indicators.
Pre-monsoon showers continued in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Wednesday, further bringing down the day temperature, Met officials said.
Many parts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh while isolated rains occurred in Telangana, where the conditions remained relatively hot and humid.
According to the Hyderabad Meteorological Office, the highest maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius in Telangana was recorded at Nizamabad.
Almost all places in Telagana recorded maximum temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius.
Adilabad and Nalgonda were also hot at 42 degrees. Hanamkonda, Hyderabad and Medak recorded a maximum temperature of 41 while it was 40 degrees in Mahabubnagar and Ramagundam.
This was a three to four notches lower than the maximum temperature in the state a few days ago.
Few places over coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema continued to receive rains. The rainfall at a few places in the two regions ranged between six and 11 centimetres.
The pre-monsoon showers have brought down the temperatures in Andhra Pradesh.
The highest maximum temperature of 40 degree Celsius was recorded at Nellore and Jangamaheshwarapuram in Guntur district.
The maximum temperature in most parts of the state was between 33 and 36 degrees Celsius.
Met officials said the mercury at some places in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema was one or two degree below average.
They forecast moderate to rather heavy rains or thundershowers over coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
The pre-monsoon rains have provided respite to people from the blistering heat wave, which killed more than 2,200 people in the two Telugu states during the last 20 days.
Up in the north, moderate rain in various parts of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday brought down the temperature by two to three notches, with the weatherman forecasting more thundershowers in the state on Thursday.
An official of the meteorological office told IANS that most of the prominent tourist destinations like Shimla, Narkanda, Kasauli, Palampur, Dharamsala and Manali saw spells of rain during the day, bringing down the temperatures considerably.
In the east, Kolkata had a hot and oppressively humid day on Wednesday, even as the weatherman predicted thunderstorms over the next 48 hours at a couple of places of Gangetic West Bengal, covering the districts in the southern part of the state.
The maximum city temperature during the day was 37.4 degrees Celsius, a degree above the average. The minimum recorded temperature was 28.5 degrees Celsius, two degrees above average.
The humidity ranged between a high of 86 percent and low of 51 percent.
The heat and humidity inconvenienced those out on the streets, while ice cream sellers and cold drink stalls made a killing.
"There is no rainfall prediction over the next 24 hours. But there is possibility of thundershowers at a couple of places in Gangetic west Bengal in the next 48 hours," an official at the Regional Meterorological Office, Alipore.
