Moderate rains bring down Mercury

New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) Moderate rains lashed most parts of north-west India plummeting temperatures below the normal providing respite from the scorching heat conditions.

A cloud cover in the sky, coupled with rains early this morning, today brought the mercury further down in the capital, continuing the pleasant climes that have characterised the weather in the capital the whole of last week.

The capital recorded 22.9 cm rain under the influence of upper air cyclonic system brought down the minimum temperature to 19 degrees Celsius, eight degrees below normal, the maximum temperature dropped to 35 degrees Celsius, nearly six degrees below normal.

The cool climes are likely to persist tomorrow with the weather office forecasting a partly cloudy sky with the possibility of rain and thundershowers accompanied by a squall in some areas.

The mercury stayed upto six degrees below normal at various paces in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh following rains.

In Punjab, the temperature hovered three degrees below normal at Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala. In Haryana, Hissar and Karnal reported five degrees below normal temperature and Ambala six degrees down.

Widespread rain lashed Himachal Pradesh last night. Shimla recorded 10.8 mm rain till this morning. Suni, Sujanpur Tira, Solan, Guler, Naudan, Gamroor and Kalpa also had rainfall.

Chandigarh and its adjoining areas also experienced rain last night. The city recorded 15.8 mm rain till this morning and the maximum temperature at 35.0 degrees celsius.

The weather office have predicted light pre-monsoon showers in Mumbai. The sky is likely to be cloudy even as the maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 35 and 29 degree celsius, respectively.

Rains in certain parts of Kolkata failed to bring down the temperature, with the maximum at 36.4 degrees Celsius. Residents were facing sweltering heat as the humidity levels also remained high in the range of 80-90 per cent.

According to the forecast, Heavy rains are likely to occur at most places in Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at a few places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal, Sikkim, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, coastal Andhra Pradesh, and coastal Karnataka.

Rain or thundershowers are also likely to occur at isolated places in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chattisgarh, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Telangana, Rayalseema, Tamil Nadu, and interior Karnataka.

UNI TEAM YA PM1914