Heatwave alert issued till April 1 for parts of northern and central India
For plains, a heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature rises to 45 degrees Celsius.
The India Meteorological Department on Sunday issued a heatwave alert for several states in northern and central India till April 1.
“Isolated heatwave conditions are very likely over Western Himalayan Region and Gujarat state during [the] next 3 days and over West Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Rajasthan during next 4-5 days,” the weather office said in its latest bulletin.
The department added that heatwave conditions were likely to prevail in south Punjab, south Haryana, south-east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, north Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada between March 29 and March 31.
A heatwave occurs when the temperature recorded is more than 4.5-6.4 degrees Celsius above normal. If it is more than 6.4 degrees Celsius above normal, it is a severe heatwave.
For plains, a heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature rises to 45 degrees Celsius. A temperature of 47 degrees Celsius or above warrants a severe heatwave alert.
In Sunday’s forecast, the weather agency has also predicted light to moderate rainfall in North East India in the next 3 days.
“Thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and gusty winds [speed reaching 30-40 kmph] at isolated places very likely over Assam-Meghalaya, Nagaland-Manipur-Mizoram-Tripura,” the department forecast.
