Three persons were today killed in incidents of wall collapse and uprooting of trees as a strong dust storm lashed Uttar Pradesh even as light to moderate rains brought the soaring temperature down considerably in northern and eastern states.
Heat wave conditions abated in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal following fresh spell of rains.
In Delhi, the mercury settled below the 40 degrees mark as the city recorded light to moderate rains in the afternoon. The maximum and minimum temperatures in the national capital were 38.6 and 27.4 degrees, respectively.
The MeT office said the Safdarjung weather station, data of which is considered the official figure for the city, recorded 0.4 mm of rainfall while areas under Palam, Ayanagar and Ridge observatories received 0.8 mm, 8.9 mm and 0.4 mm of rainfall, respectively, till 5.30 PM.
The showers were accompanied by strong winds measured at speeds of up to 60 km per hour at the Safdarjung observatory and 92 km/hour at Palam.
In Uttar Pradesh, a 12-year-old boy was killed when a wall collapsed on him following a dust storm in Manjhanpur area of Kaushambi district. Two more persons died after trees fell on them during a dust storm in Jaunpur ditrict.
According to the MeT office, chief amount of rainfall was gauged in Lalganj - 2 cm, Kerakat, Mohamadabad, Rasra and Varanasi - 1 cm each.
Meerut, Faizabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Varanasi, Allahabad recorded a dip in day temperatures. Jhansi and Agra were the hottest at 42 degrees.
West Bengal had a pleasant day with Bankura recording the day's highest temperature at 37.3 degrees. Several parts of Kolkata witnessed showers in the afternoon that kept the temperature just a degree above normal at 36.8.
Day temperatures at Sriniketan, Burdwan and Asansol were recorded at 37.1, 36.8 and 36.9 degrees, respectively.
The MeT department has predicted thundershowers in some parts of Gangetic West Bengal in the next two days.
In neighbouring Bihar, light to moderate-intensity showers brought day temperatures down by a several notches. Maximum 5.3 mm of rainfall was recorded in Bhagalpur, while Gaya was the hottest place in the state at 41.4 degrees.
In Odisha, Bhawani Patna and Titlagarh sizzled at 45.5 and 45 degrees, respectively even as the coastal areas of the state reported light rains.
Rainfall, accompanied with gusty surface winds, is likely
to lash many places in Odisha due to a low pressure area in the neighbourhood with MeT office asking fishermen to be cautious while venturing into the sea.
Yesterday's well marked low pressure area now lies as a low pressure area over Vidarbha and adjoining Telengana and South Chattisgarh, the meteorological centre here said.
The associated upper air cyclonic circulation extends upto 7.6 km above mean sea level.
Under its impact, rain or thunder shower is likely to occur at many places over Odisha during next 24 hours.
Districts in sub-Himalayan West Bengal received heavy precipitation while a few places in the southern parts of the state got moderate rainfall as the Met department forecast more heavy downpour in the north.
Cooch Behar received 59.2 mm rainfall, the state's highest in 24 hours from last morning, the Met department said.
