Rains today lashed Delhi giving some respite to people from the scorching heat but Odisha sizzled with Titlagarh and Bolangir recording a high of 46 degrees Celsius.
The showers followed a dust storm in the afternoon, bringing the mercury down in the national capital which had recorded a maximum of 42.7 degrees Celsius yesterday at the Safdarjung observatory while in Palam it was 45.6 degrees Celsius.
After the rains, the temperature in Delhi fell to 40.9 degrees Celsius while the minimum was 30.5 degrees Celsius.
The weatherman has predicted overnight showers in some areas of the city which is expected to further bring down the mercury.
"The minimum temperature was recorded at 30 degrees Celsius this morning, four notches above normal. The humidity was 72 per cent," a MeT Department official said, adding, "Overnight showers are also likely in some areas."
Light showers owing to a western disturbance had hit the capital yesterday but failed to give respite to Delhiites as the maximum temperature had crossed the 45 degree Celsius mark.
Two persons were seriously injured after being struck by lightning on the Amritsar-Pathankot Road even as parts of Punjab and Haryana witnessed light rains after a dust storm bringing relief from searing heat wave prevailing for the past several days.
According to the MeT Department in Chandigarh, the change in weather was due to a western disturbance which was active over the region.
Dust storm occurred in several places followed by rains including in Phagwara, Nawanshahr, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Patiala in Punjab, and in Sirsa, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Hisar and Kurukshetra in Haryana. Chandigarh also experienced a drizzle.
The maximum temperature had been hovering in the range of 41-45 degrees Celsius at most places in the two states with Hisar having registered a high of over 47 degrees Celsius in the last two days.
Titlagarh and Bolangir in Odisha scorched at 46 degrees Celsius followed by Hirakud, Jharsuguda and Bhawanipatna at 45.6 and 45.5 and 44.7 degrees Celsius respectively.
Phalodi in Rajasthan registered 45.5 degrees Celsius followed by Jaisalmer at 45.2 degrees Celsius. Churu, Barmer, Bikaner, Kota and Jaipur witnessed 44.7, 44.2, 44, 43.2 and 42.4 degrees Celsius respectively.
Other places which experienced heat wave were Nagpur (45.4 degrees C), Gwalior (45.1), Machhalipatnam (42.6), Hyderabad (42), Ahmedabad (42.6) and Bhopal (42.5).
India Meteorological Department has predicted that the maximum temperatures are likely to fall by 2-3 degrees Celsius over north-western and central India in the next 48 hours.
315 heat wave-related deaths have been reported in Telangana since the beginning of the summer season till May 21, according to an official of the State Disaster Management Department.
In West Bengal, most parts except Asansol and Darjeeling
received scant rain during the day even as there was a likelihood of light to moderate rain during next 48 hours in the state.
Asansol received 94.1 mm rainfall, the highest in the state in 24 hours from yesterday morning, while Darjeeling hills received 74 mm rainfall during the same period.
The maximum temperatures in Punjab and Haryana hovered around normal levels despite rains lashing a few places.
In Haryana, Ambala and Hisar recorded the maximum temperature of 32.6 and 36.2 degrees Celsius. Ambala received rainfall of 8.2 mm. Karnal and Narnaul recorded their respective maximums at 33.6 and 33 degrees Celsius.
In Punjab, the maximum temperature at Amritsar settled at 35.4 degrees Celsius, while Ludhiana and Patiala registered maximum temperatures of 33.9 and 33.2 degrees Celsius respectively. Ludhiana and Patiala received 13.8 mm and 1 mm of rainfall respectively.
