Rains lashed several parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and West Bengal today, even as around 317 heatwave-related deaths were reported in Telangana since the onset of the summer season till date.
It was a pleasant day in the national capital with the city recording a high of 35.6 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season's average and down by 5.3 degrees from yesterday's maximum temperature.
The Safdarjung weather station in the city recorded 10.2 mm rainfall while the areas under Palam, Lodhi Road, Ayanagar and Ridge observatories recorded showers measuring 10.6 mm, 8.5 mm, 5.6 mm and 6.2 mm respectively, the MeT said.
Telangana disaster management department today said as many as 317 heatwave-related deaths have been reported in the state since the onset of the summer season till date.
"These (317) deaths were confirmed by the three-member committee (set up to assess cases of heat-related deaths). Nalgonda district tops the chart with 91 deaths followed by Mahabubnagar with 44," an official in the disaster management department's control room said.
There was respite from heatwave conditions in most parts of Punjab and Haryana as overnight rains coupled with high-velocity wind, lightning and thundering, brought the mercury down in the region.
The weather in West Bengal also remained pleasant today with some parts having received good amount of rainfall since last evening. Bankura in the western part of the state recorded the highest day temperature at 37.1 degrees Celsius, according to the Met department.
Kolkata received heavy showers last evening recording 56.2 mm of rainfall within a span of about two hours. The downpour also led to water logging and traffic snarls in some parts of the city. Though the day temperature was normal in the capital city, humidity caused some discomfort.
Meanwhile, the private weather forecasting agency, Skymet, said in its second forecast for the monsoon season today that there are 92 per cent chances of India receiving "normal" and above rainfall this season.
Good amount of rain is expected in Central India and along the West coast while some pockets of Bihar and East Uttar Pradesh could experience less precipitation, it said.
Tamil Nadu, Northeast India and South Interior Karnataka will be at "moderate risk" in terms of rainfall through June, July, August and September (JJAS), it added.
