Heatwave set to subside, except in West Rajasthan, Kerala
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has announced that the ongoing heatwave across the country is expected to subside, with the exception of West Rajasthan and Kerala. IMD scientist Soma Sen stated, "Heatwave is about to end from the entire country. A heatwave alert has been issued only in West Rajasthan and Kerala." She further said that on Friday, the heatwave will only be present in West Rajasthan.
Yellow alert issued, thunderstorm activity predicted
In other other parts of India, the IMD has issued a yellow alert. "We have issued a yellow alert because we don't have a lot of hope for the impact (rain activity)," Sen stated. "Strong moisture flow is coming to the country from the Bay of Bengal, due to which thunderstorm activity is increasing," Sen explained. Thunderstorms and heavy rain warnings have been issued for some hilly states and northeastern regions, with strong lightning being a possibility.
Thunderstorms and heavy rain warnings issued
The states likely to experience cloud-to-ground lightning include Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya among others. Strong winds and hailstorms are ;also expected in parts of Madhya Pradesh on Friday, as per an IMD tweet on Thursday. In Delhi, the weather department has predicted rainfall this week. The northwestern part of India is not expected to see any rise in mercury levels over the next two days; however, temperatures are likely to drop by 2-3°C thereafter.
27 cities across India experienced 'heat stress'
According to a new report, as many as 27 cities across India experienced "heat stress"—a situation in which the heat index reaches 41 degrees Celsius—to varied degrees in April. Temperatures above 41 degrees Celsius are rated as "danger" by Respirer Living Sciences, a start-up that specializes in data science and technology research for living environments.
