The maximum (day) temperature is likely to be two to three degrees Celsius above the normal in six districts of Kerala till Sunday, the IMD (India Meteorological Department) Meteorological Centre here has warned.
The warning, valid for both Saturday and Sunday, is applicable to Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, and Kannur districts.
Met Centre director K. Santhosh has attributed the rise in temperatures to the absence of summer rain and the consequent dry weather and the dry winds blowing from the northeast.
The State has recorded a rainfall deficit of 33% during the first 12 days of March. Except for Wayanad and Ernakulam, Kerala districts have received little or no rainfall in the initial days of the 2022 summer.
In the previous 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Saturday, Vellanikkara in Thrissur district recorded a maximum temperature of 38.6 degrees Celsius, Palakkad 38 degrees Celsius (0.8 degrees above the normal), Kozhikode 35.6 (2.3 degrees above normal), Alappuzha 36.2 (2.7 degrees above normal), and Kottayam 37.3 (2.9 degrees above the normal).
Maximum temperatures (as of March 11) are above 35 degrees Celsius over many parts of Gujarat, Vidarbha, southwest Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, interior Odisha, Kerala and Mahe, Telangana, Rayalaseema, and Tamil Nadu, the IMD noted in a Saturday noon bulletin.
Heat wave conditions persisted in some parts of the country with severe heat wave conditions in isolated pockets over coastal areas of Saurashtra-Kutch.
While dry weather is likely to persist in the State till Monday, a few districts can expect light rainfall on March 15 and 16, according to the IMD.
