Rains in Northern and Eastern States Bring Relief from Heat as Monsoon Progresses Further

New Delhi: Many parts of northern and eastern India received rains on Saturday as monsoon covered most of the country, bringing respite from the sweltering heat.

The monsoon has advanced to almost all parts of Rajasthan barring five districts, with many places recording rainfall ranging from 6 to 14 cm since Friday, a Meteorological (MeT) department official said. Jaipur, Ajmer and Kota recorded significant rainfall on Saturday, he added.

Except five districts of Churu, Hanumangarh, Sriganganagar, Bikaner and Jaisalmer, almost all parts of the state have recorded first monsoon rainfall. Jaipur recorded 71.3 mm rainfall, followed by Kota (37.6 mm) and Ajmer (26.8 mm).

At 43 degrees Celsius, Bikaner was the hottest place in the state followed by Jaisalmer (41.8), Barmer (40.8) and Sriganganagar (40.5).

A cloud cover cocooned the national capital, offering some respite to the people from the heat.

Weather department officials said the maximum temperature in Delhi settled at 37 degrees Celsius on Saturday while the minimum was recorded at 26.5 degrees Celsius, one notch below the normal.

Rains lashed many parts of Punjab and Haryana, with their joint capital Chandigarh receiving 21.2 mm of rainfall, the MeT department said.

The maximum temperature of Chandigarh was 36.2 degrees Celsius with 92 per cent maximum relative humidity.

In Punjab, Patiala witnessed 29 mm of rainfall and recorded maximum temperature of 36.4 degrees Celsius. Amtrisar witnessed traces of rains and a day temperature of 33 degrees Celsius while Ludhiana recorded a high of 34.6 degrees Celsius.

Ambala and Hisar in Haryana recorded traces of rain and their maximum temperatures were 36.9 degrees Celsius and 37.8 degrees Celsius respectively.

Karnal and Narnaul recorded their respective maximum temperatures at 35 degrees Celsius and 36.5 degrees Celsius.

Many parts of Himachal Pradesh received moderate rains on Saturday even as warning for heavy to extremely heavy rains has been issued in the state for the coming days.

The Shimla MeT centre has forecast rain in plains, low and middle hills and snowfall in the high hill of the state from July 7 to 12.

The meteorological department has issued the 'yellow' warning for heavy rains from July 7 to 9 and 'orange' warning for extremely heavy rains on July 8.

The highest temperature in the state was recorded in Una at 37.8 degrees Celsius and lowest in Keylong administrative centre at 10 degrees Celsius.

After a week-long delay, monsoon showers lashed Jammu on Saturday, providing relief to the people from the sweltering heat as the mercury dipped several degrees below the season's average for the first time in the last fortnight.

Jammu recorded 7.6 mm rain during the day as people came out in large numbers to get drenched in the showers which brought the maximum down to 34.4 degrees Celsius-- 1.5 degrees below normal during this time of the season.

The mercury also dipped in Srinagar as the maximum temperature settled at 28.1 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 17.7 degrees Celsius after overnight rain.

Moderate to heavy rains lashed many parts of Uttar Pradesh, a Meteorological (MeT) department official said Saturday.

Bhinga in Shravasti district recorded 23 cm rainfall followed by Fatehpur (14 cm), Allahabad (13 cm), Kakardarighat (12 cm), Bhatpurwaghat (11 cm), Kanpur (11 cm), Banda and Etawah 10 cm rainfall each, they said.

While Hardoi, Karchana, Unnao and Sahaswan recorded 9 cm rainfall each, Baharich, Misrikh, Hathras, Jhansi, Kasganj, Sharthan and Aurriya received 7 cm each, the weatherman said.

South-west monsoon has been active over eastern Uttar Pradesh and vigorous over western districts leading to light to moderate rain and thunder showers at most places in the state, the official said.

The MeT department has predicted rains at most places in eastern Uttar Pradesh and at many places in western Uttar Pradesh.

Heavy to very heavy rain occurred at some places in West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

In Odisha, Cuttack recorded 13 cm rainfall while Kendrapara received 10 cm rainfall.

Rainfall occurred at many places in Goa, central Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Matheran in Maharashtra's Raigad district recorded a rainfall of 21 cm while Mahabaleshwar in Satara district received 11 cm rain, according to the IMD data.