Heat wave alert sounded for State and Telangana

But Vizag is lone exception, registering a drop in temperature

Dog days:According to IMD officials, the possibility of temperature breaching 48 degree C mark can’t be ruled out.— Photo: V. Raju

: There appears to be little respite from the heat wave conditions prevailing in some districts of the two Telugu-speaking States – Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – with mercury shooting up five to six degree Centigrade above normal.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heat wave warning in Telangana and Rayalaseema for the next couple of days. Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh and Medak in Telangana reported higher temperatures, prompting Met officials to issue warning of heat wave conditions in these areas.

According to senior IMD officials, this summer is warmer compared with the past few years. Coupled with the combination of local factors, the prevailing El Nino effect has led to abnormally high temperatures, ranging from five to six degree Celsius above normal. Temperatures induced by the global climate change and low performance of the monsoon during the last two seasons have only accentuated the situation.

“The normal temperature in our parlance is drawn from the average temperature at a particular point of the season for the last 30 years. Change of the order of four degree Celsius in day to day temperature is accepted as normal, but we will be prompted to declare heat wave once the change is above five degree Celsius,” IMD Hyderabad director Y.K. Reddy said.

The IMD had forecast that the heat wave days will be more during the current season as compared with the previous seasons.

“There were 13 heat wave days in the two States last year. The number could be double or more this season going by the condition prevailing outside,” Mr. Reddy told

The Hindu . There was possibility of temperature breaching the 48-degree Celsius mark in some place, he said.

Situation better in city

The situation in most part of the coastal Andhra Pradesh region, however, continued to be without much change. While the temperature in Nandigama is said to be hovering around two degree Celsius above normal, the situation is better in Visakhapatnam where there was, in fact, a drop in the temperature. There was no major change in Guntur, Nellore and other stations in the coastal Andhra region.