Rains in Delhi bring relief from sultry heat, slight dip in temperatures in north India

NEW DELHI: A spell of showers in Delhi brought a much-needed relief from the heatwave conditions on Saturday, while other parts of north India witnessed a slight dip in maximum temperatures.
The India Meteorological Department said the conditions are becoming favourable for further advancement of southwest monsoon into some more parts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand over the next two to three days.
The monsoon will make an onset in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab around June 24-25, according to the IMD.
Early morning rain brought respite from sweltering weather in the national capital and neighbouring areas.
The precipitation brought the mercury below 40 degrees Celsius in most parts of the city.
The maximum temperature in the city will hover around 35 degrees Celsius for the next four-five days, an official said.
According to weather experts, the monsoon is likely to arrive two-three days earlier than its usual date of June 27 in Delhi because of a cyclonic circulation over West Bengal and the neighbourhood which moved towards southwest Uttar Pradesh on June 19 and June 20.
In neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab, maximum temperatures hovered close to normal limits.
Narnaul in Haryana recorded a high of 39.5 degrees Celsius, two degrees below the normal, according to the Meteorological Department here.
Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab recorded near normal maximum temperatures of 39, 38.1 and 38.7 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, registered a high of 36.8 degrees Celsius, which was one notch below normal limits.
Maximum temperatures dropped by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius at most places in Rajasthan, with Sriganganagar recording a high of 43 degrees Celsius.
Bikaner recorded 42.5 degrees Celsius followed by 41.9 in Churu, 41.1 in Jaisalmer, 40.2 each in Jodhpur and Kota, 40 in Jaipur, 39.9 in Barmer, 39.4 in Ajmer and 39.6 in Dabok.
The weather office has forecast heavy rainfall and thunderstorm/lightning accompanied with gusty wind conditions at isolated places in the next 24 hours, officials said.
In Himachal Pradesh, a yellow weather warning has been issued for thunderstorms in the state for next week, according to the MeT Department.
It has forecast rain in low, middle hills whereas rain, snow in high hills of the state next week, Shimla MeT centre director Manmohan Singh said.
The yellow warning has been issued for thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and gusty winds in middle hills from June 22 to 24 and in plains on June 23 to 24, he said.
Meanwhile, light to moderate rain occurred at some places in the hill state.
Nurpur received 35 mm of rain, followed by 34 mm in Nadaun, 13 mm in Nahan and Dharamshala each, 10 mm in Palampur, 3 mm in Dalhousie and Una, he added.
Bilaspur remained the hottest place in the state with a high of 38 degrees Celsius, whereas the lowest temperature was recorded at 5.4 degrees Celsius in tribal district Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong.
The IMD, in its All India Weather Summary and Forecast Bulletin, said widespread rainfall is very likely to continue over east and northeast India during the next four to five days.
It also said that Madhya Pradesh has recorded 142 per cent excess rainfall since June 1 and heavy showers are likely at some places in Sidhi, Singrauli, Rewa, Mandla and Balaghat districts.