The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉
Main Topic: Update On India’s Punishing Heatwave
Dear Diary. It’s time to check in on India once more which has been enduring more ramped up heat during 2024 due to long term carbon pollution. The worst might be over there since there are signs that the yearly seasonal monsoon is about to kick in. Great damage has been done, though. Reuters reports 40,000 suspected heat strokes from India this year with over 100 deaths:
India reports over 40,000 suspected heatstroke cases over summer (msn.com)
The heat statistics from Maximiliano Herrera and others coming from India have been startling during 2024. Here are a couple of recent messages:
Here is the article from New Dehli T.V. linked to the last message (For videos click on the following link):
Delhi Feels Like 50 Degrees, Heatwave In Nainital: How India Is Burning
Temperatures are soaring above 46 degrees across north India including in Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand. In Bihar, 22 people died due to severe heat and high humidity.
India News Edited by Muskaan Sharma Updated: June 18, 2024 8:30 pm IST
New Delhi:
An intense heatwave sweeping through Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab over the last week has spurred an India Meteorological Department (IMD) red alert for these states. Temperatures are soaring above 46 degrees across north India, including in Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand. In Bihar, 22 people have died due to severe heat and humidity in the last 24 hours.
Delhi “feels-like” 50 degrees Celsius
In the national capital, the maximum temperature is likely to settle at around 45 degree Celsius, over 6 degrees higher than the normal temperature for June. According to the weather office, the heat index, or the feels-like temperature in Delhi surged to 50 degrees Celsius on Monday.
A Delhi to West Bengal IndiGo flight was delayed by over three hours on Monday due to a technical snag which resulted from high ground temperatures. While the national capital expects slight relief from Wednesday due to scattered rains and dust storms, a long-term reprieve is unlikely for now.
Temperatures rise across Uttarakhand, J&K
In Uttarakhand, most-visited Dehradun recorded a maximum temperature of 43.1 degrees Celsius. Even hill towns like Pauri and Nainital are experiencing a heatwave with little to no rainfall in three months.
Hill state Himachal Pradesh is blazing at 44 degrees — 6.7 degrees above average. In Jammu and Kashmir, Katra recorded a maximum temperature of 40.8 degrees Celsius, while the mercury touched 44.3 degrees in Jammu.
Respite from heatwave soon?
Former IMD Director General, KJ Ramesh told NDTV that respite from the sweeping heatwave was expected this week but a shift in winds through the Arabian Sea has delayed the cooling down of the plains.
“Another reason is that the monsoon is stagnant over West Bengal since June 1. As long as monsoon does not cover these areas, north India will remain under a continuous heatwave,” he said.
Mr Saxena, however, added that Delhi might experience some “intermittent relief” due to duststorms and scattered showers but they can only provide relief “for a few hours or half a day”.
After Wednesday, fresh western disturbance will approach northwest India, also affecting Delhi and bringing relief from the intense heat, according to the weather office.
Real abatement of heat will occur only once monsoon arrives,” he said, adding that it will take more than 12 days for monsoon to reach Delhi.
“After June 27, most areas of Uttar Pradesh will get relief followed by western UP, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab,” he said.
Here are more “ETs” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports or outlooks:
Here is some more May 2024 climatology (Prior reports are listed on older daily diary blogs for each calendar day.):
Here is More Climate News from Wednesday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)