India
The IMD has predicted that the average temperatures this summer - from March to May - will be above normal by up to 2 degree Celsius.
Updated : Mar 01, 2018, 09:10 AM IST
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the average temperatures this summer - from March to May - will be above normal by up to 2 degree Celsius.
The seasonal forecast, released by the IMD on Wednesday, said that Delhi, along with Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, is likely to see a rise of over 1.5 degree Celsius in average temperatures.
The maximum rise has been projected for the hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where average temperatures could be 2.3 degrees higher than usual, the IMD said.
"During the 2018 Pre-monsoon Season (March to May), warmer than normal temperatures are likely in all meteorological sub-divisions of the country. Seasonal (March- May) average temperatures over many of the subdivisions from northwest and neighbouring central India are likely to be above normal by more than 1 degree Celsius," the IMD said in its forecast.
Maximum Temperature Anomaly forecast for March to May 2018 (Source:IMD)
The seasonal average maximum temperature is likely to be warmer than normal by more than 1 degree Celsius over Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, west and east Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, west and east Uttar Pradesh, west and east Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh.
It is likely to be more than 0.5 degree Celsius over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, south interior Karnataka and Rayalaseema. Other regions are likely to experience maximum temperature anomalies between 0.5-1 degree Celsius.
The seasonal average minimum temperature is likely to be warmer than normal by more than 1 degree Celsius over Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, HCD, Himachal Pradesh, west and east Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, west and east Uttar Pradesh, west Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
Minimum Temperature Anomaly forecast for March to May 2018 (Source:IMD)
It is likely to be more than 0.5°C in Tamil Nadu, north and south interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema, coastal Andhra Pradesh, OrissaNagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
The IMD said that normal to above normal heat wave (HW) conditions are likely over core heat wave zone of the country.
There is about 52% probability of grid point maximum temperatures in the core heat wave zone during March to May 2018 to be above normal, it said.
Core Heat Wave zone covers states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and Telangana and meteorological subdivisions of Marathwada, Vidarbha, Madhya Maharashtra and coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Mean Temperature Anomaly forecast for March to May 2018 (Source:IMD)
IMD said there is an increasing trend in the frequency and duration of heat waves over the country.
"Studies also indicate increasing trends in the frequency and duration of heat waves over the country, which can be attributed to increasing trends in the greenhouse gases and the warming of the sea surface temperatures over the equatorial Indian and Pacific oceans," it said.