Rains provide respite from rising mercury, toll mounts in AP

New Delhi, May 19 (UNI) Unusually pleasant weather greeted people in the middle of May as rains lashed parts of north-west India providing respite to the people in the region from rising temperatures even as toll in the freak summer storm in Andhra Pradesh has risen to 28.

A Squall with winds upto 62 kmph brought down temperature by eight degrees Celsius in the national capital after rains early this morning had lowered the mercury by two degrees.

As much as 1.2 mm rain, which started at about 0630 hrs, was recorded till 0830 hrs bringing the temperature down from 25 degrees Celsius yesterday to 23 degrees Celsius this morning, which was three degrees below the usual recorded this time of year.

The rain was attributed to western disturbance by the weather department.

Rains, accompanied by high velocity winds, brought down the mercury by one degree to four degrees below normal in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

In Punjab, the temperature dipped to 39.1 degrees at Patiala following rain. Amritsar was cool at 35.9 degrees, three degrees below normal, while Ludhiana recorded 39.0 degrees, two degrees below normal.

A windstorm, accompanied by rain, swept Hissar in Haryana, disruptng movement of traffic and power supply in the area. Hissar recorded 39.4 degrees celsius. A moderate rain lashed Ambala, causing the temperature to decline to 37.0 degrees, four degrees below normal. Ambala recorded 27mm rainfall while Karnal reported trace rains. Rohtak also experienced rain, recording 10.2 mm rainfall till 0830 hours.

Many areas in Himachal Pradesh, including Dharamsala, Naudan, Dhundi, Sundernagar, Rampur and Kalpa, experienced moderate rain since last night. Shimla recorded 5 mm rain.

Light rains lashed Lucknow this afternoon, bringing down the temperature to a comfortable level.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 38.8 degrees Celsius, which was one degree below normal. Light rains and thundershowers were also recorded at isolated places in Gorakhpur division.

Weather remained dry in almost all other places.

In Andhra Pradesh, 28 people died and 14 injured in various weather-related incidents last night. Twenty-four houses were partially damaged.

Visakhapatnam, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasham, Chittoor, Kadapa, Adilabad, Warangal Khammam and Nalgonda suffered crop losses due to the inclement weather.

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