Hottest start to July in 6 years; revival of monsoon on hold in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: As the monsoon continued to remain subdued, the city witnessed the hottest start to July in the past six years on Thursday. High humidity levels made the day more uncomfortable.
Though thundershowers may bring momentary relief on Friday and Sunday, the revival of monsoon is expected only after 5-6 days. The maximum temperature was 40 degrees Celsius, 4.2 units above normal, and the minimum temperature was 30.3 degrees Celsius, 3.6 notches above normal. Relative humidity was between 44-72%. As a result of high humidity, the heat felt by people was 2-3 degrees more than the actual temperature.

Earlier, 40.2 degrees Celsius maximum temperature was recorded on July 5, 2015, and 41.4 degrees Celsius on July 1, 2012.
The state, at present, is witnessing an unusual trend. The districts in northwest and northeast bordering Nepal may witness thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday, while those in the southeast and southwest, including Bundelkhand, may experience the heat wave. As a result, east and central UP which includes Lucknow is reeling under both hot and humid conditions.
The reason for such weather conditions is that moisture laden easterly winds coming from the Bay of Bengal are dominating the east and north UP, while dry hot northwesterly winds from Rajasthan are lashing the southern areas. The monsoon arrived in UP on June 13 and in Lucknow on June 18, but lost steam a couple of days thereafter. Since then sultry conditions have been prevailing. The monsoon is yet to cover western parts of the state.
“In the absence of any weather system that can energise currents, the monsoon is in a dormant state. However, we expect the formation of favourable conditions in the next 5-6 days,” said Gupta.