Most places in India's southern States – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana experienced a hotter February and March this year compared to the Long Term Average (LTA) temperature for those months.

In contrast, most places in other States experienced a relatively cooler climate compared to the LTA in the same months. LTA refers to temperature records between 2001 and 2018 and in this case, the average temperature of February and March between 2001 and 2018.

The first map below depicts the difference between the average day temperature in the months of February and March 2019 and the LTA temperature in those two months in 4,418 sub-districts.

For instance, the Shankarampet sub-district in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh experienced an average temperature of 40.56 degrees Celsius in these two months in 2019, while its LTA was 36.62 degrees Celsius. The map depicts this increase of temperature of 3.94 degrees Celsius in brown. The deeper the shade of brown, higher the temperature in that sub-district than usual.

Similarly, Siranj sub-district in Videsha of Madhya Pradesh experienced an average temperature of 27.87 degrees Celsius in these two months in 2019, while its LTA was 34.11 degrees Celsius. The map depicts this decrease in temperature of 6.24 degrees Celsius in blue. The deeper the shade of blue, cooler the sub-district than usual.

The second map depicts the same for night-time temperature anomalies.

 

As can be seen from both the maps, the southern parts of India were home to relatively hotter climates in 2019 compared to the LTA while the other parts have cooled down. 

The table below shows the percentage of sub-districts in each State and to what degree have they become hotter or cooler in the day-time in the months of February, March 2019 compared to LTA.

For instance, 60% of sub-districts in Kerala experienced weather that was hotter by 0.1 to 0.9 degrees Celsius, while 40% of them experienced cooler climes by 0.1 to 0.9 degrees Celsius in the day-time. Tamil Nadu experienced the biggest hike in temperature compared to other States.

About 11% of the sub-districts in the State felt hotter by 2 to 2.9 degrees Celsius, 33% by 1 to 1.9 and 44% by 0.1 to 0.9. Only 12% sub-districts felt cooler climes.