Bhubaneswar: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday said that 16 core heat wave zones of 16 states including Odisha are most likely to experience an intense heat wave spell during March, April and May this year.
The national weather agency, in its seasonal temperature forecast outlook for the period March to May 2020, said that there is about 43 per cent probability of maximum temperatures in the core heat wave zones of Odisha, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Telangana and Met sub-divisions of Marathawada, Madhya Maharashtra and coastal Andhra Pradesh.
It also said that the average maximum temperature is likely to be warmer than normal by 0.5-1 degree Celsius in Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi (HCD), West Uttar Pradesh, East Rajasthan, East and West Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch, Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathawada, Vidharbha, north interior Karnataka, coastal Karnataka, Rayalaseema and Kerala.
Pointing out that warm ENSO (El Nino–Southern Oscillation) neutral conditions are currently prevailing over the equatorial Pacific Ocean, the IMD said that though the latest Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecasting System (MMCFS) forecast indicates the cooling of the sea surface temperature in the coming season, the ENSO-neutral conditions are likely to continue for the entire forecast period.
