Mercury rises; Orissa toll up to 130

Most parts of northern India on Thursday experienced high temperature with Churu and Kota in Rajasthan recording 46.5°C each as death toll in Orissa rose to 130 with two more people succumbing to blistering heat wave.

Casualties due to suspected sun-stroke were reported from Jagatsinghpur and Keonghar in Orissa where Titlagarh sizzled at 44°C though some places in the state were lashed by rains.

Normal life and public transport were badly affected in Rajasthan as scorching heat continued to sweep the State with mercury soaring at almost all places.

Churu and Kota remained the hottest with 46.5°C each followed by Bikaner which recorded a maximum of 46.4°C.

Heat wave conditions intensified in some parts of Punjab and Haryana with Hisar touching 44.4°C, which was hottest place in the region.

Chandigarh recorded a two degrees below normal temperature at 35.8°C while Amritsar in Punjab experienced a hot day at 40.2°C.

Mercury rose marginally in Himachal Pradesh in the absence of rain and snowfall. Occasional cool breeze, however, kept weather in capital Shimla relatively pleasant that registered 17°C.

Low pressure may spur monsoon

India's monsoon could arrive a few days earlier than usual, sped up by a low pressure area around Lakshadweep from mid-May, a weather official said on Wednesday.

"We are expecting some low pressure area around Lakshadweep from 18th May...If the low pressure area becomes a cyclone, the monsoon will arrive faster," a director-level official of the Indian Meteorological Department told Reuters.

The monsoon normally arrives around June 1 in Kerala. Lakshadweep is an adjoining island and a part of Indian territory.

Earlier, the government predicted India's annual monsoon at 96 percent of the long-term average, which would make it the worst season in five years, although the near normal forecast raised hope for economic support and bumper crops.

The weather office regards rainfall to be nearly normal if it ranges from 96 percent to 104 percent of the long-term average.

A weather official based in Pune in western India echoed similar hopes on the back of a low pressure formation.

"The monsoon may come a few days earlier...formation of low pressure area may influence the monsoon flow," D.Sivananda Pai, director of government-run National Climate Center at Pune, said on Wednesday.

IMD: Doppler radar to be functional by mid-July

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) at a press conference on Tuesday stated that efforts were on to get the Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) operational by mid week of July, for better prediction of rains in the city. However, the DWR is not the sole tool that IMD depends on to predict monsoon - it is just one of the several paraphernalia used to collect information on cloud formation, advancement and wind direction - the Met Department clarified.

Updating the status of the installation, Dr R V Sharma, deputy director general of IMD, Mumbai, said, "The DWR equipment has arrived at the Mumbai port on April 27 and IMD office on May 7. Now, we are conducting terrace modification work at Archana building in Navy Colony so that the antenna could be installed before the monsoon."

He said the Navy had assured to complete the work by May 31. Depending on the progress, plans are on to hand over the equipment to the suppliers, Indian Firm of Radar, on May 20.

"Installation and integration would take about a month after which we will need two to three weeks to test the equipment. Considering all these factors, we are trying to get the radar commissioned in about one-and-a-half months."

He pointed out that there could be several road blocks and that heavy rains and strong winds may create difficulties during installation.

The Met department of Mumbai was so far using a conventional radar which would relay the cloud movement, cloud formation and moisture precipitation every half-an-hour. DWR is a more advanced equipment which would relay the same factors every 15 minutes.

27 killed as storm lashes northern India

At least 27 people were killed in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh in heavy rainstorms that uprooted trees and caused several houses to collapse, news reports and officials said Tuesday.

The PTI news agency, quoting police sources, reported 27 people had died in seven districts including Hardoi, Mathura, Lucknow, Mainpuri, Aligarh, Etawah and Kannauj.

According to the report, the highest number of deaths was reported from Hardoi and Mathura districts where 13 locals lost their lives.

'Most of the deaths were caused in incidents of house collapses or trees and electrical poles falling down on locals or their dwellings,' revenue official Manvendra Gupta said by telephone from the state capital of Lucknow.

Winds up to 110 kilometres per hour also disrupted power supplies in the affected districts. The movement of trains at several places in the state was hampered by the weather, officials said.

The storms were typical of the pre-monsoon period and were caused by an 'upper-air cyclonic pressure formed over the northern regions of the country,' Gupta said. India's monsoon season usually lasts from June to October.

Freak weather mystery - Bahrain

WEATHER conditions in Bahrain over the last two days are highly unusual for this time of the year, according to meteorology officials. The high-velocity north-westerly, "40-day winds" normally begin in early June and continue till the middle of July, said Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) Meteorology assistant under-secretary Abdul Majeed Isa.

"We are experiencing these conditions because of a low pressure area over India and Pakistan," he told the GDN.

"They begin as soon as the monsoon season begins to set in in the Indian sub-continent."

Mr Isa said it was also unusual for the monsoons to set in so early.

"This is very unusual and experts all over the region have nothing else to blame than global warming and climate change," he said.

The official said it was not, however, a matter of concern.

"It is unusual now, but if it happens over and over again, it will affect the weather patterns in this part of the world," said Mr Isa.

Strong surface winds, with average speeds of between 24 and 25 knots have been reported in Bahrain since Monday night with gushes of wind sometimes reaching between 34 and 36 knots.

"This is expected to continue over the next few days and should subside by Friday," said Mr Isa.

He said people should take care in the high velocity winds and warned fishermen not to venture out into the sea unless necessary.

"Care should be taken to prevent any mishaps," said Mr Isa.

He said the winds were leading to rising sands in several places, which was causing discomfort to workers and motorists.

North India gets respite from sizzling heat

May 11 (PTI) Several places in North India today received rains which kept the mercury well below 40 degree celsius even as eastern parts, especially Orisssa, continued to reel under scorching heat.
One more heat-related death was reported in Khurda district of Orissa, raising the toll to 125 in the state this summer.

Talcher was the hottest place in the state, recording a maximum temperature of 46 degree Celsius followed by Angul (45.7), Sambalpur (45.4) and Balangir (45.2).

However, people in northern region got respite from the heat for the second day today as rains and squalls kept mercury below 40 degree Celsius at many places.

Delhiites too enjoyed relatively pleasant weather, with the maximum temperature recorded at 37.5 degree Celsius, almost three degrees lower than yesterday's maximum of 40.2, while the minimum was 20.6 degree Celsius.

Monsoon predicted date (20-May-09) may change..

Monsoon predicted date (20-May-09) may change due to the present moisture from the north-west called the western disturbance.

Going by the latest water vapor shot...

One can clearly view the push of moisture from the north-west. A DRY ridge can be seen between the two moisture systems. Comparing with previous (5 days back) water vapor images, one would have noticed a clear push of moisture from South-Arabian sea. Now as per today that moist air current from South-west has died down.

Even the cloud formations over the south-Arabian sea around 5th parallel has also disintegrated.

This may suggest a delay in monsoon. It may not set in over southern India as predicted before on 20-May-09.

"COLA/NCEP" predictions say that the monsoon will set in between 20-May-09 and 27-May-09.

Anyway we'll keep monitoring the various factors and keep the viewers updated.

Heavy rains lashing parts of Maldives island!

South-west monsoon has tentatively settled over northern parts of Maldives island group. Maldives is very near to Indian mainland and it's around 400 km south-west from Cape camorin (Kanyakumari).

As you can see from the LIVE webcam shot from "Kuredu Island Resort".

Heavy rain clouds can be seen over the horizon.

You can view LIVE webcam shot from "Kuredu Resort".. here...

Plans for dedicated weather channel get quiet burial

Government has shelved plans to launch the country&aposs first ever dedicated weather channel, a top official said.Plans to launch the weather channel, tentatively named&aposMausam&apos, were called off following differences over content sharing, the official said.Five private channels had evinced interest to partner with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to launch a weather channel, which was supposed to be on air this month.The channel was to provide information on oceanic movements, temperature and rainfall, as well as warnings about natural disasters.According to the basic plan, six-hour programming was being planned everyday for the channel which was to be upgraded as a 24-hour channel by 2010 before the Commonwealth Games.As per the plan the IMD was to provide weather related data for a fee while the private partner was to bring in funds and manage the channel on a day-to-day basis.The channel was part of the UPA Government&aposs plan to modernise and upgrade the observatory stations and communication, forecast and public information systems.

Chennai on 10-May-09: From a tourist point of view

Arrived in Chennai around midnight. Went straight to the hotel for a good nights sleep. Traffic was heavy. Everyone was honking all the time. Such a difference from back home in Malaysia. In India you are expected to honk, the other driver has no problem with that. Try that in Malaysia and more often than not the least you would get is a rude stare.

Breakfast at the hotel was good, good Indian buffet breakfast. (By the way restaurants in India are also known as hotels) So be careful what you mean when you ask for a hotel.

After breakfast, a tour of Chennai. weather was hot but bearable and windy. Cleanliness poor. Flies have a field day, they are everywhere. Never try to eat or drink out doors unless you want your food to be swarmed with flies. Air conditioned restaurants are fortunately clean, presentable and fly free.

Some photos of Chennai:

The roads of Chennai. The 3 wheeled 'auto' is very popular means of public transport. It is either 3 or 5 seated.

The famous Marina beach. You have to walk about half a km to reach the sea, or so the locals say.

A drink kiosk at the beach. Drinking bottled water is ok.

Buying sea shells and gem stones at he beach. The prices are not too bad. But you have to bargain, just like in Chow Kit or Petaling Street.

The shanty fisherman's village at Marina Beach. No electricity, water supply and sanitation. Bathe at roadside water taps.

Looks like some estates houses in Malaysia......................

Fisherwomen selling fish (what else!) by the beach. Just like the women in Kelantan. Women power or empowering women?

A mosque somewhere in Chennai. The roads are dusty and littered, littered, littered!

This is the train from Chennai to Kannur. It has about 20 coaches I think, but who really counted. It will be a 13 hour train journey from Chennai to Kannur