Temperatures soared in most parts of north India today as the sun shone brightly, though the heatwave conditions abated a little in Rajasthan due to squall and thundershowers caused by western disturbance.
In the national capital, residents had to sweat it out with the sun blazing and day temperature settling close to 40 degrees Celsius, after a mild morning.
Delhiites woke up to mild weather with the minimum temperature settling at 25 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. But as the day progressed, mercury soared to 39.9 degrees Celsius, one notch below normal.
The humidity levels remained between 34 and 65 per cent during the day. Weatherman has predicted similar weather conditions tomorrow in Delhi.
Scorching heat prevailed in Punjab and Haryana with mercury soaring to a few notches above normal in most parts of both the states. Maximum temperatures surpassed the 40 degrees Celsius level in various parts of Punjab and Haryana.
Hisar in Haryana was the hottest place in both states as it sizzled at 41.5 degrees Celsius, the local MeT department said. Among other places in Haryana, Ambala, Bhiwani and Karnal had maximum of 40.9 deg C, 40.8 deg C and 41 deg C, rising by up to one degree above normal.
The Union Territory of Chandigarh recorded maximum at 40.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal. In Punjab, Ludhiana settled at 41.4 deg C while Amritsar and Patiala had high of 41.2 deg C and 41.3 deg C, a degree above normal.
In the desert state of Rajasthan, the heatwave conditions abated a little in most parts due to squall and thundershowers caused by the ongoing western disturbance.
The mercury dipped by one to four degrees Celsius at most places of north-west Rajasthan due to dust storm and light to moderate rains.
Barring Pilani where mercury was around 37.5 degrees C, the rest of the state experienced temperature in the range between 41.4 and 45 degrees Celsius.
Barmer recorded the highest maximum temperature at 45.8 degrees Celsius, though it also received 19.2 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours, according to the local MeT office.
After last night's squall accompanied with thundershower, state capital Jaipur recorded a maximum temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius.
In Uttar Pradesh, the weather was mainly dry in the past 24 hours. The state's highest maximum temperature was 44.5 degrees Celsius recorded at Orai.
According to the local MeT office, day temperature fell appreciably in Bareilly, Jhansi, Agra and Meerut divisions and change a little in the remaining divisions of the state.
It was appreciably below normal in Gorakhur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly and Meerut divisions; below normal in Agra division; and was normal in the remaining divisions of the state.
