Nothern states reeled under sultry conditions today even as the weatherman said the southwest monsoon has gained momentum and is likely to hit Delhi, Punjab and Haryana in the next two-three days.
Residents in the national capital grappled with high humidity that shot up to 86 per cent. The city recorded the maximum and the minimum temperatures at 39.4 and 27.2 degrees Celsius.
The other three metropolitan cities of Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai recorded the maximum temperature at 34.7, 34.3 and 28.2 degrees Celsius.
IMD said the southwest monsoon is likely to set in over Delhi in the next two-three days as it has picked up pace and is advancing further to parts of northwest India.
A deep depression in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat coast had affected the pace of the southwest monsoon and taken away a lot of moisture.
"But the depression will not have a long term impact on monsoon. Even Gujarat has started receiving good rains now. Over the next 2-3 days, monsoon will again spread to parts of northwest India. This include Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and a large part of Rajasthan. The progress of monsoon will be speedy now," it said.
Meanwhile, overall rainfall deficiency in the country has reduced to 13 per cent. Deficiency in east and northwest India hovers around 26 per cent while in central India it is around 23 per cent.
IMD has also forecast heavy rains in Arunachal Pradesh, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, south Odisha, west Madhya Pradesh, Konkan and Goa, coastal Andhra Pradesh, coastal Karnataka and Kerala.
Light rains accompanied by thundershowers occurred at some places in Uttar Pradesh where the river Sharda was flowing above the danger mark in Palliakalan.
Aligarh, Bareilly, Jalesar and Sikandarabad recorded 4 cm of rainfall each while Nawabgunj recorded 3 cm and Hatras and Pilibhit 2 cm of precipitation.
The water level in the Ganga is rising in Ankinghat (Kanpur rural), Dalmau (Raebareli), Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Ballia, while the Yamuna is rising in Mathura, Kalpi and Naini (Allahabad).
Mercury in Punjab and Haryana settled near normal level though high humidity added to the discomfiture of the residents. Parts of Haryana also experienced light rains but that did not lead to a significant dip in temperatures.
Sultry conditions also prevailed in Bihar and West Bengal that had sporadic rains over the last two-three days.
