Nagpur records highest heat wave days in May in last 50 years
11 May 2022 08:02:05
By Kaushik Bhattacharya
Heat waves that have swept parts of the country have made life difficult for everyone. Traditional cooling mechanisms have either vanished due to concretisation or become ineffective due to unprecedented heat. Due to the concretisation, the scorching summer mainly affected the urban areas.
According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) data, Nagpur city experienced the highest 107 days of heat waves during the month of May in last 50 years in Maharashtra. The city has also recorded the highest heat wave days annually with 246 days in last 50 years.
According to IMD, heat wave happens when the temperature of a place crosses 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees Celsius in coastal areas, and 30 degrees Celsius in the hills. The weather agency declares a heat wave when a place registers a temperature that is 4.5 to 6.4 degrees Celsius more than the normal temperature for the region on that day. If the temperature is over 6.4 degrees Celsius more than the normal, the weather department declares a ‘severe’ heat wave.
The IMD also uses another criteria to declare a heat wave which is based on absolute recorded temperatures. If the temperature crosses the 45 degrees Celsius mark, the Department declares a heat wave; when it crosses 47 degrees Celsius a ‘severe’ heat wave is declared.
IMD shared the data of number of heat wave days between 1969-2019 in their website. According to data, Nagpur is the only city in Maharashtra that crossed the 100 number of heat wave days in May. Chandrapur is the second with 90 days of heat waves and Yavatmal is third with 80 days.
Heat waves have swept the country since as early as March this year. In April, Nagpur experienced the hottest April in last many decades and the trend is continue in May also. Anticyclones in western Rajasthan in March and absence of rain-bearing Western disturbances had triggered the early heat wave season in the country. In India, at least 17,000 people died due to heat waves from 1971 to 2019, according to a study. Heat waves also adversely affected agriculture in terms of yields.
In the first 10 days of May, Nagpur has experienced three heat wave days so far and with eight days of maximum temperature above 43 degrees Celsius. However, this summer, Akola, Bramhapuri and Chandrapur recorded the most hottest days with maximum number of heat waves. Bramhapuri recorded the highest eight days of maximum temperature above 44 degrees Celsius in May so far. Whereas, Akola and Chandrapur marked seven days each of maximum temperature above 44 degrees Celsius.