Northern India bakes in sweltering temps of 46 C (114 F)

May 16, 2011 – New Delhi, (PTI) Torrid weather continued to bake North Indian plains as mercury soared over 46 deg C in parts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, while it remained above 40 deg C in the national capital. There was no respite to Delhittes as sultry condition persisted with the city recording a maximum of 41.4 deg, two notches above normal. The pre-dawn reading was 27.7 deg C, three places above normal. The humidity oscillated between 25 per cent and 56 per cent, the MET department said. The maximum soared to the season’s highest on May 12 when it touched 43.1 deg C. In the deserts of Rajasthan the condition was worse as the liquid silver climbed as high as 46.7 deg C in Churu, 46 deg C in Jhalawar and 45.4 deg C in Sriganganagar. In state capital Jaipur the day reading was 43.4 deg C. Heatwave sweeping Bikaner and Kota divisions continued to affect normal life as residents preferred to stay indoors during the day. Even in Uttar Pradesh, temperature remained above 40 deg C mark in almost all the districts. Banda recorded 46.6 deg C during the day while, Lucknow registered a maximum of 41.8 deg C. The day reading in Allahabad was 43.9 deg, while in Kanpur and Varanasi it was 43.2 and 43.6 deg C respectively. Blistering heat continued to sweep Punjab and large parts of Haryana, with Amritsar sweating it out at 44 deg C, three degrees above normal. Intense heat prevailed in Ludhiana and Chandigarh which a high of 43.4 deg C and 40.4 deg C, respectively. In Haryana, Bhiwani was the hottest at 43 deg C, up two notches. In Ambala, mercury climbed to 39.6 deg C, while the maximum at Karnal was 39 deg C. Even in hill state of Uttarakhand, the day reading was near 40 deg C mark at some places, with Dehradun residents sweating at 38 deg C. In Jammu, during the day, mercury climbed as high as 42 deg C, but it was relatively cooler in Srinagar where the maximum was 31 deg C. Shimla also had a cool day with mercury staying at 29 deg C during the afternoon. –IBN Live