Heatwave to continue for another five days in east India: IMD

The intense heatwave scorching large parts of east India will continue for another five days the India Meteorological Department IMD said on Monday reported the PTIAccording to the PTI the ongoing spell of heatwave which is the second this month is broiling parts of West Bengal Odisha Jharkhand and BiharHeatwave conditions have been prevailing in Odisha since April 15 and the Gangetic West Bengal since April 17 according to the MeT departmentThe news agency reported in a statement the IMD said that the heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are expected in parts of West Bengal Karnataka Odisha Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand during the next five days High humidity could add to peoples inconvenience in coastal Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu Puducherry Karnataka Goa Kerala West Bengal and Bihar it saidSubstantially high night temperatures are likely in east Madhya Pradesh on April 22 and April 23 High night temperatures are considered dangerous because the body doesnt get the chance to cool down as per the PTIIncreasing nighttime heat is even more common in cities because of the urban heat island effect in which metro areas are significantly hotter than their surroundingsThe threshold for a heatwave is met when the maximum temperature of a weather station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains 37 degrees in the coastal areas and 30 degrees in the hilly regions and the departure from normal is at least 45 notchesA severe heatwave is declared if the departure from normal temperature exceeds 64 notchesConcerns about heatwave vulnerability were raised when the IMD earlier issued a warning of high heat during the AprilndashJune timeframe when approximately a billion people are expected to cast ballots in the sevenphase Lok Sabha elections 2024 despite the ongoing but waning El Nino conditionsApril 19 was election day for the first round of voting The date of the second round of voting is set for April 26The Met office has said that atleast four to eight heatwave days are expected in different parts of the country in April against a normal of one to three days Ten to 20 days of heatwave days are expected against a normal of four to eight in the entire AprilJune period according to the PTIThe areas and regions predicted to witness a higher number of heatwave days are Madhya Pradesh Gujarat Odisha Andhra Pradesh Madhya Maharashtra Vidarbha Marathwada Bihar and JharkhandSome places may record more than 20 heatwave daysThe intense heat could strain power grids and result in water shortages in parts of IndiaGlobal weather agencies including the IMD are also expecting La Nina conditions to develop later in the yearEl Nino conditions periodic warming of surface waters in the central Pacific Ocean are associated with weaker monsoon winds and drier conditions in India La Nina conditions the antithesis of El Nino lead to plentiful rainfall during the monsoon seasonIn a midApril update the IMD said India would experience abovenormal cumulative rainfall in the 2024 monsoon season with La Nina conditions expected to set in by AugustSeptember being the dominant factorwith PTI inputs