Heatwave: IMD issues ‘red alert’ for several parts of India

With temperatures surpassing the 45 degrees Celsius-mark across several parts in north India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday issued a “red” warning for Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Rajasthan for the next two days. The IMD has also issued an orange warning for heatwave for east Uttar Pradesh, said Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of IMD’s Regional Meteorological Centre.
He cautioned that temperatures could soar up to 47 degrees Celsius in some parts over the next 2-3 days.

This is also for the first time this summer season that a red warning has been issued for heatwave, Srivastava said.This season, the temperatures did not rise the way it usually does in north and central India because of significant rainfall activity during April that continued till mid-May.

“Heatwave conditions over some parts with severe heatwave over isolated pockets are very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Telnagana during the next five days,” the IMD said in its daily bulletin.
It added that heatwave conditions in isolated pockets over Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat, central Maharashtra and Vidarbha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Rayalseema and north interior Karnataka are also likely during the next 3-4 days. For the plains, a heatwave is declared when the actual maximum temperature is 45 degrees Celsius and severe heatwave when it is 47 degrees Celsius or above.