As many as 62 of the 76 mandals in North Coastal districts across the State are likely to experience “severe heat wave” on Thursday, when the Election Commission of India (ECI) is slated to officially issue the general election notification and receive nominations from contestants.
The severe heat wave means an deviation of seven degrees Celsius in the temperature in the areas where the normal maximum temperature is below 40 degree Celsius, or additional 6.6 degrees Celsius in the areas where normal temperature is above 40 degree Celsius.
Of the 62 mandals, which are about 81 percent of the 76 mandals, 12 mandals are in Srikakulam district, 22 in Vizianagaram, 13 in Parvathipuram-Manyam, four in Alluri Sitarama Raju and 11 in Anakapalli (11) disctrict, according to an official statement by the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) on Wednesday.
Apart from the severe heat wave, 214 mandals in the State are likely to experience heat waves during the same day. However, the severe heat wave situation is likely to ease the next day (April 19) as an alert has been issued for only 47 mandals on April 19 as against 76 mandals on April 18.
The APSDMA statement informed tha on Wednesday, Pedda Devalapuram of Nandyal district recorded the highest temperature in the State at 44.9 degrees Celsius and Makkuva of Parvathipuram-Manyam district and Simhadripuram of YSR district recorded 44.3 degrees Celsius.
A temperature of 44.1 degrees Celsius was recorded in four mandals in the State, including Ravikavatam of Anakapalli district and Ramabhadrapuram of Vizianagaram district. “Sixteen districts recorded temperatures above 43 degrees Celsius, while 67 mandals experienced sever heat wave in the State on Wednesday,” the APSDMA statement stated.
However, due to the influence of Cumulonimbus clouds which occur in the pre-monsoon season (means summer), cloudy weather prevailed in some areas like Rajam of Vizianagaram district, which received 9.75 mm rainfall on Tuesday evening.
