Northwest and central India is likely to witness intense heatwave conditions this summer, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned today.

Regions such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha will experience summers unlike 2020 and 2021, Met officials said during the release of the weather bureau’s Monthly Temperature and Rainfall Outlook for April.

IMD Director-General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said above-normal maximum temperatures were likely over northwest and central India, while normal-to below-normal maximum temperatures were likely over the rest of India.

India’s average rainfall in April is 39.3 mm. However, rainfall over Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha Jharkhand, and large parts of northeast India will be below normal in April and add to the overall heat, the Met officials said.

On the other hand, thunderstorms are likely to bring rainfall over south peninsular India and keep the maximum temperatures in check. The weather agency sees the prevailing La Nina conditions continuing till July or August. An ocean phenomenon, La Nina occurs when sea-surface temperatures over the equatorial Pacific Ocean remain cooler than normal. La Nina conditions have historically favoured India’s summer monsoon.

However, the Indian Ocean Dipole, another ocean-phenomenon along the Indian Ocean, continues to remain neutral. Met officials expect the condition to turn negative, which is not favourable for monsoon in India, sometime in June.

COOLERS AT JHARKHAND ZOO

Authorities at Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park (Birsa zoo) are making arrangements for air-coolers and special diets to ensure that inmates stay healthy amid the sweltering heat that has battered Jharkhand. The state witnessed a temperature of around 40°C with Ranchi recording a maximum temperature of 38°C in the past 24 hours.

The zoo authorities have already provided air-coolers in enclosures for lions and tigers, while herbivores are being served fruits such as watermelon and cucumber. They are also being given glucose and multi-vitamins to protect them from the heat, a zoo official told the Press Trust of India.