IMD: Soaring Temperatures to Stay; Season's longest Heatwave to Last until April 7

The ongoing heatwave that has been sweeping the north and northwest India since the last week of March 2022 is expected to last till Thursday (7 April), according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

If confirmed, the current spell might be the longest of the season, impacting a large geographic region across Jammu, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Odisha.

The IMD forecasted harsher and hotter temperatures over northwest and central India this month in its April temperature outlook report. This comes after March remained India’s warmest ever since 1901.

The season's first heatwave, which occurred between March 11 and 21, hit Gujarat, Kutch, Saurashtra, the plains of Jammu, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, along with some parts of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Konkan in Maharashtra.

Maximum temperatures in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, and west Rajasthan remained more than 5 degrees above average over the weekend.

Similarly, nights remained warm over west Rajasthan, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal where the minimum temperature departures from normal were over 5 degrees Celsius.

"On Monday, isolated heatwaves will prevail across west Rajasthan, while heatwave conditions will persist over Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Gujarat," the IMD stated in its all-India weather bulletin.

When maximum temperatures remain 6 degrees above the normal for the location, a severe heatwave is proclaimed.

Heatwave conditions will spread to parts of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha during the next four days, according to Met authorities.