Mercury in Rajasthan's Phalodi touched 50 degrees Celsius mark for a third day today while places in Gujarat saw a marginal dip in the maximums even as cyclone 'Roanu' effected rainfall and drop in temperatures in parts along the eastern coast of the country.
Noting 'heat wave' to 'severe heat wave' at a few places over Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and at isolated places over Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha and central Maharashtra, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said such conditions will gradually abate from May 27 to May 31.
In Delhi, the maximum temperature came down to 41.5 degrees Celsius from yesterday's 42.8 degrees Celsius, which the weather department said was due to 'Roanu'.
Gujarat, where three places touched 48 degrees Celsius mark yesterday, witnessed a sharp drop in the maximum temperatures in several regions, even as there was no respite from the scorching sun.
Ahmedabad, which recorded its highest temperature of 48 degrees Celsius yesterday shattering a century's record, registered 44.6 degrees Celsius, hottest in Gujarat, while Gandhinagar closely followed at 44.5 degrees Celsius.
Among others, Amreli recorded 44.4, Idar 44.2, Bhavnagar 43.1, Rajkot 43, Bhuj 41.3 and Deesa 42.8 degrees Celsius, the weather department said, adding the drop in temperatures was as predicted by it and it would continue to go down in the days to come.
Heat wave conditions continued in Rajasthan, where mercury for a third consecutive day touched 50 degrees Celsius mark in Phalodi. It was followed by Bikaner 49, Kota 48.2, Churu 48.1, Jaisalmer and Ganganagar both 47.6, Jodhpur 47.5, Dabok 47.4, Barmer 47, Jaipur 46 and Ajmer 45.8 degrees Celsius.
One death was reported in Rajasthan where a 60-year-old woman died of heat stroke in Baran district of Kota division.
In Himachal Pradesh, while Ponta and Una sweltered at 43 degrees Celsius, thunderstorm hit Shimla leaving disrupted the power supply in the state capital.
Overcast conditions intensified in Shimla with the city receiving light rains. The temperature in Shimla was recorded at 27 degrees Celsius, the weather department said.
In Uttar Pradesh, despite weather remaining dry, day temperatures fell in some parts including Allahabad division, Varanasi, Faizabad, Meerut, Kanpur and Lucknow divisions.
Orai, recording 47.5 degree Celsius, was the hottest place in the state, followed by Jhansi with 46.2, Banda 46, Etawah 44.2 and Basti 44 degrees Celsius.
Most of the places in Punjab and Haryana recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, while Chandigarh reeled at 41 degrees Celsius.
Hisar in Haryana at 45.6 degrees Celsius was the hottest
place, followed by Ambala and Karnal at 41.6 and 40.4 degrees Celsius, respectively, the weather department said.
In Punjab, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala witnessed their maximums at 43.6, 42.3 and 42.1 degrees Celsius, respectively, it said.
In the East, coastal and Gangetic West Bengal are likely to face heavy rainfall during the next two days as 'Roanu' moves towards the state's coastline.
"The cyclonic storm Roanu would move north east wards along and off West Bengal coast and cross Bangladesh coast between Khepupara and Cox's Bazar on 21st (May) night/22nd (May) early morning May," the Met department said in a cyclone warning for West Bengal.
Similar warnings have also been issued for northern Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, it said.
Cyclone Roanu moved further northeastwards and lay centred about 50 km south-southeast off Gopalpur coast causing rains coupled with gusty surface winds to lash several parts of Odisha, affecting normal life.
The system is likely to move further northeastwards along and off north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by tomorrow, the meteorological centre said.
The system, however, brought respite from the scorching heat in the state as maximum temperature dropped to 37.1 degrees Celsius at Hirakud and 26.2 degrees Celsius in Bhubaneswar during the day, it said.
