Punjab has been witnessing dry and warm weather conditions, particularly, parts of South Punjab has borne the major brunt of the dry weather conditions. The extent of dry and hot weather is so much that mercury soared to 46.2 degrees Celsius at Patiala on Wednesday. In fact, this is the highest maximum temperature of the season.
In fact, Patiala has been reeling under dry and hot weather conditions for the last four to five days. On June 10, Patiala received 0.4 mm of light rains only and since then, the weather has been dry.
Under the influence of constant dry weather, the temperatures have also started showing a rising trend. In addition to this, for the last two days, the city was enveloped under a layer of dusty winds and obscured sky conditions.
As per Skymet Weather, this layer of dust has been responsible for shooting up both the minimum and maximum temperatures. This is the reason, Patiala recorded day maximum at 46.2 degrees Celsius and minimum at 33.1 degrees Celsius, both were seven degrees beyond the normal.
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Skymet Weather reiterates that this layer of dust is being carried by the winds blowing from the hotter regions of Rajasthan and adjoining boundary of Pakistan wherein the temperatures are high. As the weather of these regions has been constantly dry, the dust and sand over these two regions are loose in nature and the strong surface winds blowing from these hotter regions are transporting the dust over Northwest India.
Moreover, as the moisture content is low over Northwest India, including Patiala, due to persistent dry weather. The dust is not able to settle down and is prevailing over the upper atmosphere. Due to this envelope of dust and sand, the outgoing longwave radiation is not able to escape and is getting trapped in the atmosphere, leading to rise in night temperatures.
Additionally, the short-wave radiation from the Sun also penetrated through this layer of dust, enhancing the maximums and making the days warmer as well.
Generally, the month of May is the hotter period for most parts of Northwest India, but the situation can persist until the arrival of Southwest Monsoon over the region. In fact, the highest maximum recorded by Patiala in May also stands at a soaring 45 degrees Celsius. Prior to this, 42 degrees Celsius was the highest ever recorded maximum in April as well.
As of now also, Skymet Weather does not foresee any relief from the ongoing hot and dry weather conditions which is not likely until wind reversal takes place or the city experiences some rain or thundershowers.
However, after 48 hours, conditions might become favorable for some rain or thundershowers to occur over some parts of Northwest India, including over Patiala.
Image Credit: The Quint
Any information taken from here should be credited to skymetweather.com