New Delhi : The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that temperatures across most parts of the country are likely to remain above normal in the coming days.
According to the IMD, maximum temperatures are expected to be 4–6°C above normal over many areas of Northwest India and 2–4°C above normal across Central India. Temperature departures were markedly high — by 4–8°C — over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Uttar Pradesh and West Rajasthan. They were 2–4°C above normal over Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal and Bihar, while the rest of the country recorded near-normal readings.
Daytime temperatures ranged between 35–38°C over Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and parts of Peninsular India, and 32–35°C over Madhya Pradesh, south Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Other plains recorded maximum temperatures between 28–31°C.
Meanwhile, under the influence of a weak western disturbance, light and isolated rainfall or snowfall is likely over Jammu and Kashmir from March 4–9, Himachal Pradesh from March 7–9, and Uttarakhand from March 8–9.
Dense fog, with visibility between 50 and 199 metres, was observed in isolated pockets of Meghalaya and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal. Similar conditions are likely in isolated areas of Sikkim during the morning hours on Wednesday.
Minimum temperatures ranged between 10–15°C across Jammu division, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, north Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, south Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya. In most other plains, minimum temperatures were between 16–20°C, except coastal Odisha, South Peninsular India and the West Coast, where they were between 20–25°C. The lowest minimum temperature over the plains was recorded at 10.0°C in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
The IMD also reported an upper air cyclonic circulation over south and northeast Assam and adjoining areas. Another cyclonic circulation persists over the central parts of the South Bay of Bengal and adjoining Equatorial Indian Ocean in the lower and middle tropospheric levels, tilting southwestwards.