Skymet weather

Northwest plains continue to evade extreme heat, while Gangetic plains remain hot

According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, in spite of clear skies, winds from the west direction, which are less hot, will not let day temperatures rise significantly in northwest plains, keeping the intense heat away for the next two days at the least.

Weathermen at Skymet have cited a Western Disturbance over north Pakistan and adjoining Jammu & Kashmir, along with it an associated cyclonic circulation over Rajasthan and adjoining Punjab, as reasons for relatively less hot weather conditions in northwest plains. Northwesterly to westerly winds blowing in to the region are not hot enough to boost the maximum temperatures, which are currently below the normal at several places. Once the Western Disturbance moves away, day temperatures may rise sharply post the next 48 hours.

Day temperatures recorded below or near normal at most of the weather stations over Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh, and forecast indicates that they may rise by up to two to three notches during the next two days.

The westerly winds continued to dominate Bihar and West Bengal where day temperatures were above normal by five to seven degrees at places like Patna, Bhagalpur, Bankura and Sri Niketan. According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, day temperatures are unlikely to drop hence heat wave will continue in this region.

Heat wave conditions also continued in Odisha on Sunday in spite of some rain in Chandibali, Cuttack and Dhenkanal under the influence of a trough of low that extends from sub-Himalayan West Bengal to Odisha. A weather alert has been issued by Skymet at 12:47 pm forecasting light to moderate rain and thundershowers likely at a few places over Balangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada districts of Odisha with strong winds averaging at 40 kmph while gusting at 70 kmph during the next 2 to 6 hours.

Northeast states would continue to draw moisture from southerly winds from the Bay of Bengal due to a cyclonic circulation over Assam. The weather system will continue to fetch moist winds that will usher in rain over Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland and Tripura. The region will continue to receive pre-monsoon rain in variable amounts during the week as well due to another cyclonic circulation in the Andaman Sea.

The weather in South India will continue to remain hot and humid as pre-monsoon rain remains subdued. Some places in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu could witness some showers due to a trough of low extending from a cyclonic circulation over Vidarbha to Comorin area of Tamil Nadu across Telangana and south interior Karnataka and Kerala during the next two days.

Southwest Monsoon reaches Andaman Sea

According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, the Southwest Monsoon has set in over the Andaman Sea yesterday, a little earlier than the scheduled arrival date. The weather conditions remain favourbable for its further progress towards more parts of Southeast Bay of Bengal and some parts of East-central and Southwest Bay of Bengal during the next 48 hours.

Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands has recorded 20 mm of rain in the last 24 hours and good amounts of showers are expected to continue in the city during the next 48 hours. The city has been experiencing pre-monsoon rains for last ten days with 41 and 25 mm of rain received on 14th and 7th May, respectively.

Skymet Meteorology Division says that a cyclonic circulation near the Andaman Sea has emerged at a medium level. Such weather systems expedite and enhance the progress of Southwest Monsoon. The current system seems to be relocating and reorganizing at the moment, bringing slight uncertainty over the advancement of Monsoon.

Weathermen at Skymet are of the view that prior to the onset, such weather systems either in the Bay of Bengal or in the Arabian Sea help the cross equatorial flow to strengthen, and thereafter the strong southwesterly winds sweep across Kerala coast, announcing the arrival of Monsoon.

Kerala awaits the arrival of Southwest Monsoon

After an early onset of Southwest Monsoon into most parts of Andaman Sea, true to the predictions of Skymet Weather, weathermen and agriculturists across the country are now closely observing further developments of the Monsoon line and its likely arrival into Kerala. And rain in Kerala in the last 24 hours has further raised hopes of everyone.

According to latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, Kochi yesterday recorded traces of rain and Alapuzha recoded 1 mm of rainfall, however Thiruvananthapuram remained dry with partly cloudy skies.

Though light rain occurred in many pockets of Kerala last evening, it failed to bring much needed relief from the hot and humid weather in the state. The maximum temperature here has been settling 2 to 3 degrees above the normal average, between 33⁰C to 35⁰C, due to lack of rainfall since the 10th of May. Nights too are warm with minimums lying in the range of 26⁰C to 27⁰C and the humidity has been as high as 80%.

Further forecasts suggest light to very light rainfall (below 10 mm) is expected to in Kerala for the next three to four days, picking up gradually towards the end of the week or start of next week.

“Kerala is nearing its onset date and therefore pre-Monsoon rain will become more frequent, and could shortly convert into Monsoon showers”, says AVM(Retd) G.P Sharma.

Skymet Weather on the 14th of May had predicted an early onset of Southwest Monsoon over Kerala. The date was predicted to be 28th of May against the usual onset date of 1st June. Whereas earlier in April, Skymet had released its Monsoon foreshadow for 2014, where it confirmed the coming Monsoon to be ‘below normal’ at 94% (error margin of ± 4%) of the Long Period Average (LPA) of 896 mm for the four-month period from June to September.

Weather records show, barring year 2012 and 2013, the onset of Southwest Monsoon into Kerala in the last few years has always been earlier than the usual date. In 2013 Southwest Monsoon had set over Kerala on the 1st of June and in 2012 it set on the 5th of June, the same date proposed by Indian Meteorology Department for the onset of Southwest Monsoon over Kerala this year.

In year 2011, 2010 and 2009, the vital Southwest Monsoon set over Kerala on 29th May, 31st May and on the 23rd of May, respectively.

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Odisha and West Bengal sweltering under heat wave

According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, Odisha and West Bengal are sweltering under intense heat wave conditions with maximums between 42⁰C to 44⁰C in many parts. And further forecasts suggest no relief from the heat for at least 48 hours. Whereas on the other hand, mercury levels are still below the normal average by two to three notches in Delhi and North India, and the weather is yet to turn very hot.

Days have been heating up since Odisha’s massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections. Maximum temperature in the state for the last 48 to 72 hours has been settling around 42⁰C and beyond. While on Friday the maximum in Bhuvaneshwar recorded  42⁰C, it touched a whopping 44⁰C on Saturday. Titlagarh became the hottest city in Odisha yesterday with a maximum temperature of 44.5⁰C, making Odisha the hottest state in India.

West Bengal too has been combating the intolerable heat and unbearable humidity for the last few days. Temperatures have risen to 43⁰C in many cities and relief is nowhere in sight. On Friday, weather in in the Mishti city Kolkata turned terribly hot as the maximum temperature settled at 42⁰C. It dropped marginally on Saturday, recording 40.5⁰C. Bankura, also in West Bengal, saw the day’s maximum settle at 43⁰C (six degrees above normal) on the other hand.

“A flow of dry and warm northwesterly winds, penetrating upto West Bengal and Odisha, have led to a significant rise in the maximum temperatures. People will have to bear with the intense heat for couple of days to come. Heatstrokes could be common at this time, people should preferably be indoors”, says Samar Chaudhury of Skymet Meteorology Divison in India.

“Light to moderate rain which might occur in isolated pockets of Odisha during the next 24 to 48 hours, will also fail to bring any major relief from the boiling heat. Rain may occur only towards the later part of the day, i.e. towards evening or night, and by then the temperature would have already risen”, added Mr. Chaudhury.

Delhi and North still comfortably hot; Pre-monsoon rain to lash South India again

Weather in Delhi has been comfortably hot so far this summer as the maximum exceeded the 40⁰C mark only in the first week of May. Day temperatures in Delhi and North India have been settling in the thirties consistently for the last ten days and according to latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, this trend could continue for another two to three days, thanks to strong northwesterly winds which will keep the mercury levels in check.

Despite the harsh sun and clear skies, maximum temperature in the capital city Delhi once again recorded below 40⁰C on Saturday, touching 36.9⁰C (two degrees below normal). Maximum temperature in other cities in North India, looked like this: Hisar  37.1⁰C (one degree below normal), Amritsar  34.4⁰C (five degrees below normal) and Jaipur  38.9⁰C (two degrees below normal).

“Northwesterly winds are quite strong, of up to 30 kmph, which will not allow the day temperatures to rise above the otherwise very normal figure of 40⁰C, till the 22nd or 23rd of May. And not just that, these winds will also keep the weather in North India quite pleasant during the mornings, as the minimums will hover around 23⁰C to 25⁰C” says Samar Chaudhury of Skymet Meteorology Division in India.

Meanwhile, pleasant May days are in the offing for South India too. This region after having received torrential rains in the last few days (due to the low pressure system near Sri Lanka), had turned dry and hot. But weather gods were kind enough to not let that happen for too long.  Just as predicted, after a break of about one week in the pre-monsoon showers, weather in South India will once again turn cool, cloudy and rainy.

A weather system (a wind discontinuity), extending from Central India to south Kerala is expected to bring light to moderate pre-monsoon rain to Kerala, and light scattered thundershowers to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In the last 24 hours, the weather in South India remained mostly dry, with only Bangalore having received the highest amount of rain in India on Saturday, of about 6 mm.

Though, other regions of India might not be that lucky in terms of rain. Barring isolated pockets of Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh, where rainfall of insignificant amounts could occur, entire Central India is expected to remain dry and hot with maximums in the mid-forties this week. Weather in Northeast India would also see similar conditions, as the rain intensity will reduce considerably here.

On Saturday evening, Guwahati in Assam received 2 mm of rainfall, whereas Solapur and Nagpur in Vidarbha, received 0.2 and 0.1 mm of rainfall.

Weather forecast for major cities on Monday

According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India the weather in Odisha is the hottest in country currently. Heat wave conditions are being experienced which are not likely to abate for the next two to three days. The weather in West Bengal is equally hot with day temperature in the forties. However weather in Delhi and North India will still be bearably hot. Chennai and Hyderabad could witness relief from the heat due to a flow of cool and humid southeasterly winds from the sea.

Cities Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature Conditions
Delhi
 38°C 24°C Morning will be pleasant. A windy and warm afternoon expected. Skies will be mainly clear
Mumbai
 37°C 27°C Day will become hotter. Partly cloudy skies expected. Morning hours will be comfortable while evening will be breezy.
Kolkata
39°C 29°C Marginal drop in maximum. Day will hot and partly cloudy.
Chennai
37°C 28°C Maximum drops, making the day less hot. Partly cloudy skies will bring no rain.
Bangalore
35°C 21°C Thundershowers to continue. Skies will turn cloudy towards later part of the day.
Hyderabad 38°C 27°C A hot morning and an even hotter afternoon. Isolated thundery build up possible.

Photo by Ritika Acharya.







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