Bhubaneswar: Last month was the hottest March in India’s documented history since 1901, an analysis by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) revealed.
The month with an average monthly day temperature of 33.1 degree Celsius also surpassed the all-time average maximum temperature record of 2010 when it had surged to 33.09 degree Celsius.
According to the IMD, the observed average maximum, minimum and mean temperatures for the country during March 2022 were 33.1 degree Celsius, 20.24 degree Celsius and 26.67 degree Celsius respectively, as against the normal of 31.24 degree Celsius, 18.87 degree Celsius and 25.06 degree Celsius.
“The mean temperature in east and northeastern parts of Odisha in March was 25.20°C, the highest in 120 years. The state saw 96 per cent deficit rainfall in the month along with rapid dryness. Climate change and urbanization are adding to the severity of temperature,” Senior Scientist, IMD-Bhubaneswar, Umashankar Das told a local channel.
Titlagarh was the hottest place in the state on most days with the maximum temperature hovering around 41-43 degree Celsius in March. It is worth mentioning here that the mercury had soared to 42.2 degree Celsius in Bhubaneswar in March last year, which highest daytime temperature of March in the last 64 years barring 2014 when it had recorded 42 degrees Celsius. It was at least 7 degrees above the normal temperature.
The IMD officials attributed the severe heat to a prolonged dry spell. Cloudless skies, no rains and consistent dry and hot westerly winds blowing into northwest and central India contributed to the soaring Mercury, they added.
March witnessed two spells of heatwaves, the first between March 11 and March 21 while the second started on March 26 and is still continuing.
Both Northwest and central India witnessed consecutive heatwaves this year from the pre-monsoon season. “Globally also, the hottest years have been among the last two decades. Climate change is impacting severe weather intensity and duration, even in India — be it in terms of heatwaves, cyclone intensity or even heavy rainfall,” Rajendra Jenamani, scientist, National Weather Forecasting Centre, IMD, told TOI.
Notably, the second half of March this year had markedly high day temperatures with the mercury soaring above normal in Delhi, Haryana and hill stations in the north. “Hill stations in the western Himalayan region also recorded very high day temperatures recently, being above normal by 7degree Celsius-11 degree Celsius for several days. A maximum temperature of 34 degree Celsius-35 degree Celsius in March in a hill station like Dehradun, Dharamsala or Jammu is indeed a high value,” he was quoted as saying by the national daily.
While the maximum heat zone in summer generally lies over interior Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana and Odisha, this year it was over even in those regions that are supposed to be much cooler.
OP Sreejith, the head of Climate Monitoring and Prediction Group, IMD, in Pune, attributed the severe heatwave to the absence of rainfall. “There were two heatwave events also in the month of March. There was an anti-cyclonic circulation which led to advection of heat from the western side to north and central India. Overall global warming is also one of the main reasons. Even during La Nina events we are often recording very high temperatures,” he was quoted as saying by HT.
