Vidarbha region is the biggest sufferer of ruthless summer in recent times as Nagpur, Wardha and Chandrapur districts have shown the positive trend of severe heat wave days in last two decades, claimed a study conducted by India Meteorological Department (IMD) recently. The study named “Analysis of heat wave and mean maximum temperature for the months of March to June over Vidarbha during last 50 years” claimed that the number of days with heat wave also had a positive trend for Nagpur, Buldhana, Wardha and Chandrapur districts. It also stated that the decadal variation of heat wave indicated a significant increasing trend for Nagpur, Buldhana, Wardha and Chandrapur. The severe heat wave days have a positive trend for Nagpur as it increased by 0.06 days per year (1 hour and 26 minutes) in last two decades, claimed the study.

 

Chandrapur also witnessed increase in severe heat wave days by 0.06 days per year. Whereas, the trend was increased in Wardha by 0.02 days per year (28.8 minutes). The study was conducted in seven stations namely Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Nagpur, Wardha and Yavatmal districts between March and June months from 1970 to 2021. The data has been obtained from the National Data Centre, IMD, Pune and Climate Section, Regional Meteorological Centre, Nagpur by the meteorologists Bhawna, Charan Singh, and Brajesh Kumar Kanaujiya. As per the study, Chandrapur has experienced highest number of heat wave days that is 16 days followed by Wardha with 14 heat wave days and Nagpur with 12 heat wave days in this decade. The heat wave days over Nagpur in the first three decades of the study was a single digit number which has increased to a double digit value in recent two decades. According to the study, a positive trend in heat wave days is observed for Nagpur (3 hours and 50 minutes), Buldhana (1 hour and 48 minutes), Wardha (3 hours and 40 minutes), and Chandrapur (3 hours and 20 minutes).

 

The study also mentioned that the heat hazard analysis over Indian regions shows that the effect of ‘weight scores’ (how an individual’s body weight factors into physiological heat strain) due to minimum temperature on the impact of heat wave are significant over Vidarbha and adjoining Marathwada, Rayalaseema, Telangana, interior Odisha, parts of Madhya Pradesh and at some pockets over Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with maximum impact seen to be shifted in the month of May over entire central India and adjoining Peninsular India.

 

The study also found that the effect of wind speed in aggravating the impact of heat wave is also observed over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining regions of East India, Vidarbha and adjoining Marathwada, few parts of Konkan and south Tamil Nadu. Similarly, the weighted scores of heat wave spell also have significant contribution on the impact of heat wave particularly over west Rajasthan, Odisha, Vidarbha, Telangana and coastal Andhra Pradesh, claimed the study. As per the meteorological analysis of special cases of heat wave events indicated mainly the presence of anticyclonic winds over Central India at 850 hectopascal (hPa) levels, presence of a ridge line at 700 hPa and 500 hPa levels which lead to the warming over the surface.