Rain brings relief in J and K, Heat wave in Punjab, Haryana

New Delhi, May 4 (UNI) The heat wave continued to lash northwest India, with Hisar continuing to remain above the 45 degrees Celsius mark and Shimla having its hottest day of the current summer season.

But clouds and thunderstorm, which hit the national capital towards the evening, gave some respite from the extreme temperatures.

The maximum temperature dropped by a couple of degrees, from a maximum of 43 degrees earlier in the day, while the minimum was recorded at 27.1 degrees.

In Kashmir, rain today brought some relief to the people and tourists.

The showers also brought some respite to the people of Jammu.

A thunderstorm during the next 24 hours was also forecast in Uttar Pradesh.

The nationwide death toll due to scorching heat stood at 36. Fifteen people have died due to blistering heat in Uttar Pradesh, seven in West Bengal, six in Jharkhand, four in Maharashtra, three in Gujarat and one in Punjab.

In the north-west region maximum temperature stayed above 40 degrees at many places in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

Hisar recorded a maximum temperature of 45.2 degrees, six notches above normal.

Elsewhere in Haryana, the mercury hovered two degrees to five degrees above normal with Ambala and Karnal, recording the maximum temperature at 40.3 degrees and 40.6 degrees respectively.

Chandigarh and its surrounding areas experienced heat wave, with the city recording 41.4 degrees, four degrees above normal.

People groaned under a severe heat wave in Punjab, with Amritsar remaining hot at 44.2, six degrees above normal. While Ludhiana recorded 42.5 degrees and Patiala 42.1 degrees.

The heat wave conditions also prevailed in several areas of Himachal Pradesh with Shimla having its hottest day of the season at 28.7 degreess. Meanwhile, Una recorded 42.8, Sundernagar in Mandi district was warm at 39.4 degrees and so was Bhuntar in Kullu district at 36.0 degrees, seven notches above normal, Dharamshala was warm at 35.0 degrees.

In UP, Agra stood the hottest at 44.8 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal. Varanasi recorded 44.4 degrees, followed by Allahabad 44, Kanpur 43.8, Lucknow 43.6, Jhansi 43.3 that varied one to three degrees above normal.

Three more deaths were reported, one each from Bareilly, Agra and Mahoba.

Heat wave conditions prevailed in the districts of East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Nellore, Prakasam and Visakhapatnam of Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

A highest maximum temperature of 44 degrees was recorded at Bapatla and Kavali.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at isolated places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

Rain or thundershowers have occurred at a few places in West Bengal and Sikkim and at isolated places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, east Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, south interior Karnataka, Kerala, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

UNI Team AE BST2011