Brace yourself for a warmer summer this year, heatwave conditions likely in Mumbai
| Mar 1, 2018, 11:21 IST
India brace yourself to face a warmer summer this year as the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that the weather will be warmer than usual and it will continue throughout the season this year. The pre-monsoon season is from March to May. The weather office also warned of increasing trends in the duration and frequency of heat wave conditions in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, and Telangana.
They further said, "The heatwave will hit us, for sure, especially the core heat zone that includes Delhi and other states. The temperature variations will differ from region to region.”
They also said, “The grain filling period for the wheat crop is in March. If the temperature is higher by 1 degree Celsius than maturity will happen fast and productivity will be less by 200-350 kg per hectare from the average productivity of 4.5-5 tonne. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan typically start planting cotton by May and paddy by June. In Madhya Pradesh, soybean cultivation starts after the monsoon sets in.”
The IMD has also predicted that about 52 percent probability of above-normal maximum temperature in the core heatwave zone. The Met office said, “Regions likely to be warmer by at least 1 degree are Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, west and east Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, west and east Uttar Pradesh, west and east Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha (Maharashtra), Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh.”
The IMD concluded by saying, “Temperature increase lesser than 0.5 degrees will be witnessed in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, north, and south interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. The remaining subdivisions are likely to experience warmer summer variations between 0.5 and 1 degree.”
They further said, "The heatwave will hit us, for sure, especially the core heat zone that includes Delhi and other states. The temperature variations will differ from region to region.”
They also said, “The grain filling period for the wheat crop is in March. If the temperature is higher by 1 degree Celsius than maturity will happen fast and productivity will be less by 200-350 kg per hectare from the average productivity of 4.5-5 tonne. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan typically start planting cotton by May and paddy by June. In Madhya Pradesh, soybean cultivation starts after the monsoon sets in.”
The IMD has also predicted that about 52 percent probability of above-normal maximum temperature in the core heatwave zone. The Met office said, “Regions likely to be warmer by at least 1 degree are Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, west and east Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, west and east Uttar Pradesh, west and east Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha (Maharashtra), Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh.”
The IMD concluded by saying, “Temperature increase lesser than 0.5 degrees will be witnessed in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, north, and south interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. The remaining subdivisions are likely to experience warmer summer variations between 0.5 and 1 degree.”