Parts of the country are already battling extreme heat, with a significantly high number of heat wave days expected in the April-June period.
Heatwave has kicked in in parts of the country, with mercury breaching the 40-degree-Celsius mark in some states and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a warning for some. While the IMD has sounded a heatwave warning for parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, states like Bihar and Odisha are also sizzling in over 40-degree-Celsius temperatures.
Mumbai on Monday recorded severe hot weather amid the IMD's warning of a heatwave there and in neighbouring Thane and Raigad districts for two days, till Tuesday.
Delhi, meanwhile, has been pleasant lately, with partly cloudy skies. The minimum temperature in Delhi, however, was two notches above season's average on Tuesday at 23.5 degrees Celsius. The IMD predicted partly cloudy skies during the day with surface winds on Tuesday, with the maximum temperature likely to settle at around 35 degrees Celsius.
Maharashtra's Mumbai witnessed severe hot weather on Monday amid the IMD's warning of a heatwave in the city and neighbouring Thane and Raigad districts for two days till Tuesday.
IMD officials said the maximum temperature in the three districts could go up to 38 degrees Celsius. A heatwave warning has been issued for the country's financial capital as well as Raigad and Thane districts for Monday and Tuesday, an IMD Mumbai official said.
The civic administration in Mumbai has already issued guidelines for people to tackle the heatwave this summer season.
Navi Mumbai's Rabale area recorded a maximum temperature of 41 degrees Celsius on Monday, while Mumbai simmered at 37.9 degrees Celsius.
Elsewhere in Maharashtra, Malegaon in Nashik district recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, while mercury soared to 39 degrees Celsius in cities like Pune, Solapur and Satara, according to IMD Mumbai's data cited in a PTI report.
Delhiites woke up to a pleasant Monday morning with the minimum temperature settling at 21.6 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average. Delhi witnessed partly cloudy skies on Monday, while the IMD has predicted similar condition for Tuesday as well.
Delhi on Tuesday recorded a minimum temperature of 23.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 35 degrees Celsius.
Heatwave conditions gripped parts of Bihar on Monday as the mercury crossed the 40-degree Celsius mark in at least nine districts of the state, according to the weather office.
The MeT department has said severe heat is expected to continue in several parts of Bihar for the next few days.
While Sheikhpura district recorded the highest temperature of 41.8 degrees Celsius, Aurangabad registered 41.2 degrees Celsius, followed by Khagaria (40.9 deg C), Bhojpur, Banka, and Nawada (40.7 deg C each), Dehri (Rohtas) 40.2 deg C, Gaya and Motihari (40 deg C each).
State capital Patna recorded a high of 39.3 degrees Celsius, according to IMD data.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra called a high-level meeting to review preparedness of various departments in the wake of extreme summer weather conditions in the state.
Odisha too logged scorching temperatures on Monday with Baripada town in Mayurbhanj district recording 41.4 degrees Celsius. According to IMD's Bhubaneswar centre, 18 places in Odisha reported temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
While Baripada was the hottest, Bhubaneswar, Chandbali, and Nuapada also faced sweltering heat, each reaching 41.2 degrees Celsius, weathermen said.
Other regions, including Jagatsinghpur, Paralakhemundi, Khurda, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, also experienced temperatures ranging between 40 and 41 degrees Celsius, the Met said.
The IMD predicted that due to prevailing northwesterly/westerly dry air and high solar insolation, the day temperature would cross 40 degrees Celsius at many places during the next four days.
The temperature would be around 38 to 40 degrees Celsius in coastal Odisha while it would be between 39 to 42 degrees Celsius in the interior pockets, it added.
The IMD on Monday said India will experience above-normal monsoon rains this season on the back of favourable La Nina conditions. M Ravichandran, the secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, told in a press conference that the seasonal rainfall will be on the higher side of 'above-normal', and pegged it at 106 percent of the long-period average (87 cm).
However, normal cumulative rainfall does not guarantee uniform temporal and spatial distribution of rain across the country, with climate change further increasing the variability of the rain-bearing system.