Rains lash north India, mercury scales down

File pic of women enjoying monsoon showers near the Gateway of India in Mumbai.

Most parts of northern India revelled in moderate to heavy rainfall Tuesday that brought temperatures down considerably and a much-needed respite for people from the sweltering heat.

'The maximum temperature would fall by 2-3 degrees Celsius over parts of north India during the next 24 hours and increase thereafter,' an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Thunder-squalls have been predicted over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh while heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh during the next 24 hours.

Delhi experienced 0.6 mm rain till 8.30 this morning, bringing the minimum temperature six notches below the average at 22.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest for this month in the past three years.

Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a minimum temperature at 19.4 degrees Celsius, which was five degrees below normal. The city received 83.6 mm rainfall Monday night.

In Punjab, Patiala recorded a low of 19 degrees and received 74.6 mm rainfall, while Amritsar and Ludhiana recorded a minimum temperature of 23 and 20.6 degrees Celsius, respectively.

In Haryana, Ambala recorded 17.8 degrees Celsius Tuesday as it received 47.8 mm rainfall Monday night. Hisar and Karnal cities recorded 17.7 and 20 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The monsoon has meanwhile advanced over Arunachal Pradesh in the north east and most parts of Karnataka in the south west with IMD officials saying conditions are favourable for its advance over Konkan and Goa and central Maharashtra.

More rains are predicted in Lakshadweep, Kerala, Karnataka, Konkan and Goa, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and northeastern states.

However, heat wave conditions still prevail over isolated pockets of east Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and coastal Andhra Pradesh. The maximum temperature of 44.7 degrees was recorded at Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) Monday.

Source http://sify.com/news/rains-lash-north-india-mercury-scales-down-news-national-kgiokfcchbe.html