New Delhi: East India and the southern peninsula were engulfed by a severe heat wave on Thursday, leading to power grid challenges and prompting Kerala’s government to shut down schools until May 6.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported extreme heatwave conditions in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, with temperatures soaring above 44 degrees Celsius in at least 17 locales.
Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh experienced a scorching 46.2 degrees Celsius, while Palwancha in Telangana hit 45.3 degrees, Karur Paramathi in Tamil Nadu reached 44.3 degrees, Bolangir in Odisha was at 45 degrees, and Kalaikunda in West Bengal recorded 44.3 degrees.
Kerala’s Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, ordered educational institutions to remain closed until May 6 due to the intense heat.
The IMD anticipates the current heat wave in eastern and southern India to persist until May 3 before subsiding.
The Met office warned of higher than normal temperatures across most of India in May, with a significant increase in heat wave days expected in the northern plains, central regions, and adjacent peninsular areas.
April witnessed unprecedented high temperatures in the east, northeast, and southern peninsula, leading to health advisories and the suspension of physical classes in several states. Numerous stations reported their highest April temperatures ever.
April’s heat waves were mitigated by five active Western Disturbances, which brought rain, thunderstorms, and hail to north and central India.
IMD data indicates that this April’s heat waves were more severe than those in 2023, previously the warmest year on record.
The trend is set to continue into May, with an estimated eight to 11 heat wave days in south Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Gujarat.Other regions, including the rest of Rajasthan, east Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, parts of Chhattisgarh, interior Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, north interior Karnataka, and Telangana, are expected to experience five to seven heat wave days.Typically, the northern plains, central India, and nearby peninsular areas see about three heat wave days in May. However, India experienced two heat wave periods in April, from the 5th to the 7th and from the 15th to the 30th.
The IMD attributes the prolonged heat wave in April to the lack of thunderstorms and an anticyclone over the west central Bay of Bengal, which disrupted the sea breeze in Odisha and West Bengal.
South peninsular India recorded an average maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius in April, the second-highest since 1901. East and northeast India had a mean temperature of 28.12 degrees Celsius, the highest since 1901.Since the 1980s, above normal maximum temperatures have become more common in south peninsular India. The region saw only 12.6 mm of rainfall in April, marking it as the fifth lowest since 1901 and the second lowest since 2001.Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha experienced their highest number of heat wave days in 15 and nine years, respectively, this April.Odisha also endured its longest heat wave spell of 16 days in April since 2016.
Despite the weakening El Nino conditions, the IMD had previously forecasted extreme heat for the April-June period, coinciding with the Lok Sabha elections.