The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday predicted nearly double the number of heatwave days in northwestern India during the summer, ANI reported.

This, however, does not mean that all summer days in the region will have above-normal temperatures, the department said.

“In northwest India, generally, it [heatwave] is for five-six days, so we are expecting 10-12 days of heatwave, but this is a seasonal fact,” ANI quoted the weather department scientist Soma Sen Roy as saying. “It does not mean that throughout the season all the days will be above normal...”

The weather agency declares a heatwave for a region when the temperature crosses 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees Celsius in coastal areas and 30 degrees Celsius in the hills.

At the national level, the weather agency calculates the total heatwave days as a culmination of such weather conditions in all 36 meteorological sub-divisions. For instance, a heatwave day, when experienced in five sub-divisions, is counted as five heatwave days.

On Wednesday, the maximum temperature in Delhi rose to 40.5 degrees Celsius, said the India meteorological agency.

By 5.30 pm, the temperature had crossed the 40 degrees Celsius mark in Akola and Chandrapur towns of Maharashtra. Pune recorded its hottest day of the season so far with the temperature reaching 41.4 degrees Celsius, which is about 4.7 degrees above normal, The Times of India reported citing IMD data.

The temperature had also reached the 40 degrees Celsius mark in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh and Shivpuri, Damoh and Guna, among other areas of Madhya Pradesh.

The India Meteorological Department said it was expecting “slightly above normal heatwave days” in western and central India during this summer season. “We are expecting five-six days above normal heatwave days,” Roy was quoted as saying.

There is “quite severe” thunderstorm activity over the western parts of peninsular India, Roy added. This area comprises the southern Konkan region, Goa, south-central Maharashtra, interior and coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

“On March 27-28, we are expecting heavy rainfall over Arunachal Pradesh,” Roy told ANI.

She added that temperatures were expected to rise in eastern India and a heatwave was likely in Odisha on March 29 and March 30.

Last month was the hottest February India experienced since 1901, according to the IMD. The weather department started maintaining the records in 1901.

The department noted that there was an increase of 1.3 degrees Celsius in the average temperature in February, up from the normal of 20.7 degrees Celsius to 22.04 degrees Celsius.

The weather department also said that India is likely to experience above-normal temperatures and more heatwave days between March and May.

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