Scorching heatwave conditions gripped large swathes of the country Saturday as the mercury crossed the 50-degree mark in Rajasthan’s Churu, while several other places endured maximum temperatures markedly above normal with the weatherman saying there will be no respite until next week.
The national capital battled weather conditions in the”red category” as the maximum temperature recorded at the Palamobservatory was 46.1°C, according to the India Meteorological Department. TheSafdarjung observatory recorded a maximum of 43.5°C.
Churu in the western part of the desert state of Rajasthanwas the hottest placed in the country at 50.8 degrees Celsius, nine notchesabove normal, according to the met department office in Jaipur.
The entire state reeled under intense heatwave conditionswith Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Kota recording their maximums at 49,47.9, 47.2 and 46 degrees Celsius. Jodhpur, Jaipur and Barmer registered theirmaximum day temperatures at 45.6, 45.2, 44.5 degrees Celsius.
In Uttar Pradesh, the highest maximum temperature wasrecorded in Banda at 48.4 degrees Celsius. Several areas in the state reeledunder heatwave conditions.
In Punjab, Amritsar and Ludhiana reeled under severeheatwave conditions with 45.7 and 44.1 degrees Celsius, up by five degreesabove normal, respectively. Union Territory Chandigarh, the common capital ofPunjab and Haryana, sizzled at 42.4 degrees Celsius, three degrees abovenormal. In the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, at leastfour places recorded their maximum temperatures in excess of 40 degreesCelsius. The hottest place in the state was Una at 44.9 followed by Bilaspur43, Hamirpur 40.6, Mandi 40.5 degrees Celsius.