The ongoing heatwave, which is the second this month, has been affecting parts of West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Bihar since mid-April. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning that heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are expected in these states as well as parts of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka for the next five days.
According to the IMD, high humidity could add to people’s discomfort in coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, West Bengal, and Bihar. Substantially high night temperatures are likely in east Madhya Pradesh on April 22 and 23, which can be particularly dangerous as it doesn’t give the body a chance to cool down.
The 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, with the departure from normal being at least 4.5 notches. A severe heatwave is declared if the departure from normal temperature exceeds 6.4 notches.
The IMD has also warned of an increase in heatwave days 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 April-June period. The areas predicted to witness a higher number of heatwave days are Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
The intense heat could strain power grids and result in water shortages in parts of India. Global weather agencies, including the IMD, are also expecting La Nina conditions to develop later in the year.
