- By Nidhi Giri
- Sun, 16 Mar 2025 01:24 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Severe Heatwave Alert: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are likely to continue over Odisha till March 18 and over Saurashtra and Kutch till March 17. Heatwave conditions are also expected over Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha, and north Telangana on March 16, and North Interior Karnataka on March 18 and 19. While parts of the country grapple with extreme heat, other regions are experiencing contrasting weather conditions. The IMD has forecast thunderstorms accompanied by hail and gusty winds over Haryana, West Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Isolated heavy rainfall or snowfall is likely over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad and Himachal Pradesh on Saturday, and over Uttarakhand on Sunday. Northeast India is also expected to experience thunderstorms with hail and gusty winds, with isolated heavy rainfall or snowfall forecast for Arunachal Pradesh during the next four-five days.
Heatwave Conditions Hit India Ahead Of Schedule
Severe heatwave conditions have begun sweeping across eastern and western India unusually early in the season, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in several regions, the IMD said on Saturday. At least last year, the first such severe heatwave conditions were recorded only in early April.
Areas experiencing heatwave to severe heatwave conditions include Vidarbha, Madhya Maharashtra, Odisha, Saurashtra, Kutch, Telangana, and Rayalaseema, with Jharsuguda in Odisha recording the country’s highest temperature at 41.8 degrees Celsius on Friday. On Saturday, the highest temperature across the country was recorded at Boudh in Odisha at 42.5 degrees Celsius.
“It is still early for severe heat wave episodes. But occasionally in some years we see such patterns in March. Otherwise, it is normally seen in April and May,” a senior IMD official said, as quoted by an HT report.
In the Capital, Safdarjung recorded a maximum of 36.2 degrees Celsius on Friday, a whopping 7.5 degrees above normal for this time of the year. A spell of rain later in the evening however brought down temperatures, with Saturday recording a peak of 33 degrees Celsius, which was 4.1 degrees above normal.
The unseasonable heat is primarily being caused by “a big high [high-pressure area] over central India which is causing subsidence of hot air,” the official explained. “There are clear skies so solar radiation is also high. For example, in coastal AP, Odisha etc., if winds are opposing sea breeze it can lead to heat waves and severe heat wave conditions.”
These early and severe heatwave conditions follow a winter season that saw Delhi recording its warmest February night in 74 years last month, when minimum temperatures soared to 19.5 degrees Celsius—seven degrees above normal. Experts have pointed to changing climate patterns contributing to these temperature anomalies across the country.