India meteorological department records 37 degrees Celsius, no relief in sight

PANAJI: The mercury again rose more than four degrees above normal to 37 degrees Celsius in the city on Tuesday, as India meteorological department (IMD) recorded maximum temperatures of 37+ and 36+ degrees on three occasions each to cap an unusually hot seven-day phase of summer.
Following the warmest February in the Indian subcontinent since 1901 - and one of the hottest February months in Goa since 1969 - the mercury had started soaring on summer's first day. On February 26, IMD, Panaji had forecasted an above normal rise in maximum temperatures due to strengthening of south easterly winds from March 1 to 4.
It has been a torrid seven-day phase since, as venturing outdoor causes much discomfort, though the low humidity and within normal range minimum temperatures provide some relief. On March 1 itself, IMD, Panaji had recorded a maximum temperature of 36.2 degrees C - 3.6 degrees above normal. Just two days later, the city witnessed the hottest March day in a decade, a maximum temperature of 37.8 degrees - nearly five degrees above normal on March 3.
"This maximum temperature (of 37.8°C - also recorded in city in March last year - is the fifth highest of March at Panaji. These temperatures are against the backdrop of heat wave conditions in parts of coastal Karnataka with a temperature of 40.2 recorded at Karwar on March 4," Rahul M, scientist, IMD, Panaji said.
The high range of maximum temperatures has meteorologists worried. "Usually we have heat waves during May to June, but conditions mimicking a heat wave in early March are totally unheard of," M R Ramesh Kumar, a meteorologist and chief scientist (retired), national institute of oceanography (NIO), Dona Paula said.
"There is a clear signal of warming of the Indian subcontinent, which does not portend well for the forthcoming summer season," the former NIO scientist said.