Severe heat wave is a condition when the day’s maximum records 40⁰C or above and settles six degrees above the normal average for the month.
Weather in Kolkata had been unbearable for the last couple of days and on Saturday it recorded the second hottest day of the season at 41⁰C (six degrees above normal). At 28.3⁰C, the minimum was the warmest in India.
Bankura on the other hand recorded day temperature way higher than that in Kolkata, at 44⁰C. And Sriniketan touched 42⁰C, once again six degrees above normal.
“West Bengal will continue to swelter under intense heat for the next 24 to 48 hours. Afternoons will be intolerably hot and the sun will be harsh”, said Samar Chaudhury, of Skymet Meteorology Division.
Earlier a heatwave condition sweeping across the southern part of West Bengal had claimed the lives of two, on the 23th of April.
“There is little hope of thundershowers (known as Kal Baisakhi in West Bengal), in the next few days, which are generally common during this time of the year in Gangetic West Bengal. Lack of moisture incursion from the sea has led to the dry heat prevailing in the state”, added Chaudhury.
A similar heat wave like condition in Odisha on the 14th April had claimed five lives in Cuttack, Boudh, Puri and Sambalpur.
Photo by gadget.ndtv