Pre-monsoon months of March, April, May to be warmer than warmer: IMD

The weather office said weather conditions over the Pacific has suggested moderate La Nina conditions. This could be an early indication of normal monsoon, which would augur well for agriculture and the economy. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) outlook said the pre-monsoon months of March, April and May would be warmer than normal and heat wave would hit 16 states, apart from Delhi, earlier.

It said the average temperature would be at least 1 degree Celsius higher than what was prevalent in the previous summers in most regions. In certain regions in the South, rise in temperature could be 0.5 degree. Regions under the core heat wave zones are Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and Telangana, as well as the meteorological subdivisions of Marathwada, Vidarbha, central Maharashtra and coastal Andhra Pradesh. The IMD has predicted about 52 per cent probability of above-normal maximum temperature in core heat wave zones.