South-west monsoon advances though heat is still on

New Delhi, June 14 (UNI) The south-west monsoon was set to keep its date with the capital today even as heat wave conditions prevailed in some parts of Jammu and Kashmir, northwest Rajasthan and at isolated places in Haryana.

The monsoon advanced towards some more parts of Telangana, Chattisgarh, Orissa and entire coastal Andhra Pradesh, northwest Bay and Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Overnight widespread rains sent the mercury plummeting in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, bringing relief from the oppressive summer heat.

The maximum temperature has plunged below 40 degree Celsius mark at most places in Vidarbha.

Hissar in Haryana touched 45.2 degree celsius mark even as the temperatures stayed below normal in northwest areas of the country.

Many areas in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh experienced rain, providing respite to people from scorching heat. The maximum stayed one to six degrees below normal in the region.

However, the maximum temperature dipped six degree below normal at Ambala and five degree below normal at Karnal.

In Punjab, where Nangal Dam, Balachour, Madhavpur and Shahpur Kandi areas were lashed by rain, the mercury fell by one degree to four degree celsius. The maximum settled at 38.7 degrees at Amritsar, 38.0 degrees at Ludhiana and 36.0 degrees at Patiala.

The temperature also dropped in Himachal Pradesh where rain lashed many areas. Bhuntar in Kullu district recorded 34.0 degree while Sundernagar in Mandi district registered 32.1 degree celsius.

In eastern UP, including the state capital Lucknow witnessed heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours.

Last night was the hottest of the season so far in Kashmir which got some respite from the scorching heat during the day today due to the drop in temperature by almost two degrees.

In the Capital, people experienced acutely humid conditions even as the South Easterlies continued to bring respite from the heat wave since the beginning of the month.

Though humidity levels continued to hover at a high of 81 per cent, South Easterly winds led to a fall in maximum temperature to 38.4 degrees Celsius, from 39.8 degrees yesterday.

Rajasthan has been hot with Ganganagar touching 45.9, the highest in the state today. Churu also sizzled at 44.8 degree Celsius.

The state capital got a marginal relief and touched 42.8 but the humidity has made people sweat more and preferring to remain indoors.

In the regions where the monsoon is yet to set in, day temperatures were appreciably above normal in some parts of west Madhya Pradesh, Saurashtra and Kutch, Konkan, Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha and were above normal in Gujrat.

Heat wave conditions prevailed in some parts of Jammu and Kashmir and northwest Rajasthan and at isolated places in Haryana.

UNI