New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) Heat wave conditions prevailed in the national capital on Friday, with the maximum temperature surging to 40.1 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, the Weather Office here said.
The heat wave, that is also sweeping many parts of the country, is expected to continue in the coming days, the weatherman warned.
Director of Skymet private weather forecasting agency Mahesh Palawat told IANS the heat wave will continue with temperatures rising and change in the direction of winds.
"The temperature is going to increase as the direction of winds has changed from northwest to southwest direction, that is from Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to Gujarat, Rajasthan," Palawat told IANS.
"The pre-monsoon showers have also been delayed, and the temperature is likely to hover around 42 degrees Celsius to 43 degrees Celsius," Palawat said.
In Delhi, the minimum temperature was also high, at 23 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average.
"Heat wave condition prevailed over Delhi on Friday, and it will be the same on Saturday," an Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) official told IANS, adding that the sky will remain partly cloudy.
The maximum and minimum temperatures in Delhi on Saturday are likely to hover around 40 and 24 degrees Celsius respectively.
On Thursday, the maximum temperature settled at 39 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, while the minimum was 24 degrees Celsius, also three notches above the average.
The soaring temperature and heat wave has claimed several lives across the country, the toll crossing 130, according to figures given by state governments.
The IMD has announced that Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Marathwada, Vidarbha, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Tamil Nadu will face heat-wave conditions over the next two days.
According to the nationwide forecast by the IMD on Friday, minimum temperatures have been markedly above normal at a few places over west Rajasthan, which means it was more than five degrees Celsius above season's average.
In most other parts of the country, temperatures have been recorded either "appreciably above normal", which means it was between 3 to 5 degrees "above normal", or "above average", which is 1.6 to 3 degrees more than season's average temperature.
The highest maximum temperature of 44.3 degrees Celsius was recorded at Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh) in the country.
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