"We have issued Red Alert for Rajasthan for an intense spell of the heatwave, and a Yellow alert for tomorrow. Similarly, we have issued an Orange alert for Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, eastern Madhya Pradesh and Delhi," said Naresh Kumar, a senior scientist at IMD.
“Yesterday, 48.8-degree Celcius temperature was reported from parts of the eastern Uttar Pradesh and Delhi also crossed 47 degrees Celsius. If you talk about Rajasthan, it also crossed 48 degrees," he added.
Further, he said that most parts of northwest India, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, have experienced heatwave to severe heatwave conditions yesterday. Vidarbha also experienced heatwave conditions.
Kumar also predicted that the approaching western disturbance is likely to affect Northwest India.
“The clouds are observed at some parts of Jammu and Kashmir from today, itself. So, we can expect a significant decrease in the temperatures after 24 hours, which will eventually decrease the condition of 'severe heatwave in northwest India, specifically, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan," he said.
The weather conditions in the aforesaid state are likely to be improved from Monday.
"In Madhya Pradesh, the heatwave will continue for the next 2-3 days but with decreased intensity. In Uttar Pradesh also, we are expecting a severe heatwave today and a heatwave tomorrow (Monday) and thereafter await (for the development in weather) due to western disturbances," he said.
Meanwhile, Kerala is dealing with heavy rains, with many roads being inundated.
The IMD has issued a red alert in five districts – Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode – of the state for Sunday and Monday indicating extremely heavy rainfall. Except Kasaragod, other districts in the state have an orange alert for Sunday.
A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while orange alert means very heavy rains from 6 cm to 20 cm of rains. A yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 to 11 cm.
