Daytime temperature in Bhubaneswar has shattered the city’s 30-year-old record by touching 45.8 degrees Celsius on Monday, the highest-ever temperature measured for the month of April.
Monday saw the daytime temperature rising steadily from the morning. It had already touched 44 degrees C by 11.30 am. By noon, it went up by another 4 degrees. One hour after, the daytime temperature was recorded at 45.2 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record high of 45 degrees C set on April 23, 1985.
By 2 pm, the temperature peaked at 45.7 degrees in Bhubaneswar, which is 1.7 degrees higher than Sunday. It finally settled at 45.8 degrees Celsius.
For more than a week, coastal Odisha particularly Bhubaneswar has been witnessing unrelenting heat wave. Scorching heat level at 45.7 degrees Celsius, 7 to 8 degrees Celsius higher than normal temperature, has paralysed normal life in the Capital City.
On Monday, roads in Bhubaneswar wore a deserted look as people preferred to stay indoors or took shelter under trees. According to environmentalists, growth in concrete structures and gradual depletion of green cover has turned the city into a heat island.
The government has already enforced morning school hour for both the government and private educational institutes. The daytime work involving physical labour has been rescheduled in two shifts. Work between 11 am and 3 pm has been completely prohibited.
“Due to stable atmosphere, the air could not move upwards and the condition becomes unfavourable for cloud formation. Since October, there has been no visible rainfall in the State. The dry nature of soil also helps reflection of heat,” said India Meteorological Department, Odisha, Director Sarat Chandra Sahu here on Monday.
“The hot wind coming from western and north-western sector was passing through central India where temperature remained above 40 degrees Celsius which also helps in increasing the heat. We call the phenomenon in meteorological term as advection of heat,” Dr. Sahu elaborated.
He said the temperature experienced at 2 pm exceeded all-time high temperature recorded since 1952 in the month of April.
The Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre has predicted that similar conditions would prevail the next week as there is very little chance of thundershowers. Besides, atmospheric systems, which often cause rains, could not be detected. Slow sea breeze has also made the matter worse for coastal Odisha.
According to the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre source, by 2 pm, daytime temperature had exceeded 40-degrees mark at 17 places.
