A heat wave currently underway in five districts of Madhya Pradesh will continue on Saturday as well, IMD officials said on Friday.
These districts are Khargone, which recorded the state's highest temperature at 43 degrees Celsius, Narmadapuram, Ujjain, Ratlam and Dhar, IMD Bhopal office's senior meteorologist PK Saha told PTI.
Incidentally, Narmadapuram district has the state's lone hill station, Pachmarhi, situated in the Satpura range.
As per the Regional Meteorological Centre in Nagpur in neighbouring Maharashtra, heatwave conditions are likely on Saturday in western MP.
"The state's lowest temperature, at 16 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Mandla district and Khajuraho in Chhatarpur. The maximum (day) temperature of Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior was recorded at 38.3 degrees Celsius, four above normal; 38.7 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal; 36.6 degrees Celsius, two above normal; and 36.4 degrees Celsius, three degree above normal, respectively," Saha said.
"The lowest (night) temperature of Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior was 18.4 degrees Celsius, 20.1, three above normal; 20.6 degrees Celsius, two above normal and 21.7 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal. It shows maximum and minimum temperature remained above normal and nights too were getting hot," Saha added.
Incidentally, Holi, which was celebrated across the state on Friday, marks the beginning of the spring season and the departure of winter.
According to Saha, dry westerly winds blowing into MP from Rajasthan are expected to abate a bit on Saturday, which may bring down temperatures by around 1 degrees Celsius in western parts of the state.
GD Mishra, the senior-most meteorologist with IMD's Bhopal office, said summer is expected to be hotter this year as per global parameters used for gauging climatic conditions and also based on the IMD's study.
"MP is expected to witness more heatwaves this summer. The maximum temperature is expected to be mostly above normal during this season," he added.
