The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday said that this year, March was the warmest ever in 122 years. Before 2022, India saw the average monthly day temperature during March 2010 surge to 33.09 degrees Celsius.
This warmth was visibly felt this year as March came to an end. But what could have caused the heatwave to peak so early this year? The maximum temperatures were above normal by 4.5 degrees over most parts of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, and Rajasthan.
What caused the heatwave to peak in March?
It is not unlikely for March to be relatively hotter than the previous consecutive years. Rising mercury has long been observed in the month of March to be a little on the upside. When IMD first issued a yellow alert regarding a heatwave in parts of Madhya Pradesh, it was in mid-March. Back then, Senior meteorologist PK Saha of IMD Bhopal told PTI that the dry westerly winds from neighboring Rajasthan were blowing into the central state.
Over the years dry spells had become longer in some instances while extreme rain has gotten bigger and hot spells have become hotter. The maximum temperatures in Mumbai in March touched 40 degrees to the highest for the year at 39.4 degrees, the IMD Santacruz observatory recorded.
What will the coming months look like?
As per the weather body, there is no respite from the heat in the coming months as well. Northwest and central India and parts of the northeast are expected to experience above-normal maximum temperatures in April, the weather office said on Thursday.
Normal to below normal maximum temperatures are likely in south peninsular India, many parts of the eastern parts of the country, and the adjoining areas of the northeast, India Meteorological Department Director-General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.
Guidelines for people
On Thursday, the weather department on Thursday has advised laypersons to avoid sun exposure and also issued an alert for Labour Ministry, the Power Ministry, and the fire departments. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an alert for departments including the Labour ministry, Power ministry, and Fire departments for the severe heatwave conditions for the next four days.
People have been advised to stay indoors and avoid sun exposure as much as possible as heatwave could lead to severe to moderate health concerns for vulnerable people.
(PTI, ANI Inputs)
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