North India continued to reel under intense heat wave condition today with Rajasthan's Barmer and Jaisalmer recording temperatures 47 degrees and above, even as heavy rain lashed parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, causing extensive damage in coastal areas.
Heat conditions intensified in some areas of the desert state as the mercury shot up in Barmer to 47.5 degrees Celsius and Jaisalmer sizzled at 47 degrees Celsius.
Scorching heat continued to affect normal life in other parts also where the day temperature in Kota, Sriganganagar, Vanasthali, Chittorgarh, Dabok, Jaipur and Ajmer was 46.3, 46, 45.6, 44.5, 44.3, 44 and 43.7 degree Celsius respectively, according to MeT Department in Jaipur.
In Uttar Pradesh too, Banda and Allahabad recorded temperature in excess of 46 degrees Celsius.
Haryana and Punjab also continued to the grip of severe heat wave, with maximum temperatures hovering well above the normal limits, and Hisar once again scorching at 45.4 degrees Celsius.
In Delhi also the mercury continued to rise settling at 43.3 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average with the MeT office warning of hotter days ahead.
In south India, heavy rains lashed various parts of central and southern districts of Kerala, causing extensive damage in coastal areas.
Rains and rough seas caused damage to hundreds of houses in coastal areas in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts, officials said.
Authorities have given directions to evacuate people in low lying areas, where reports of houses being damaged have come in. Relief camps have also been opened to shift the affected people in these areas, they said.
Parts of Tamil Nadu also continued to receive rains for the second day today, and the MeT Department said the low pressure area over Bay of Bengal has intensified into a depression and is likely to bring heavy rainfall in the next two days in coastal areas of the southern state.
But, the rain brought the mercury down in southern states as Chennai recorded 34 degrees Celsius while Thiruvanathapuram posted 31.5 degrees Celsius.
In eastern region, heat wave conditions also persisted in Odisha today with Sambalpur recording a high of 42.2 degrees Celsius, while the coastal part of the state experienced respite as the mercury dropped.
While Sambalpur turned out to be the hottest place in the state, Sonepur sizzled at 42.1 degrees and both Hirakud and the coal town of Talcher recorded a maximum temperature of 41.4 degree Celsius, the Meteorological Centre said.
In Bihar, Patna recored 39.2 degrees Celsius while Ranchi and Jhanrkhand posted 38 and 40 degrees Celsius respectively.
In the north, rains and thundershowers lashed several
parts of Uttar Pradesh bringing down temperatures. Ghazipur, Mohammadabad, Jalesar each received 5 cm of rainfall, followed by 4 cm in Ghosi and 2 cm in Tarabganj, Sultanpur, Jasrana each.
Day temperatures were largely below normal in Faizabad division, markedly below normal in Moradabad, Meerut divisions, appreciably below normal in Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Agra divisions. Jhansi, recording a maximum of 41.7 degrees Celsius, was the hottest in the state.
Maximum temperatures across Punjab and Haryana hovered few notches below normal due to rains over the last few days.
Chandigarh recorded a maximum temperature of 36.6 degrees Celsius. Ambala in Haryana recorded a maximum temperature of 36.2 degrees Celsius, while Hisar's maximum temperature settled at 40.6 degree Celsius. Amritsar in Punjab recorded a maximum temperature of 36.4 degrees.
