Monsoon reached the Northeast ahead of schedule bringing heavy rains in Assam on Friday, while showers in parts of Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir lowered the rising temperatures in north India after days of extreme heat.
In the national capital, maximum temperature dipped below normal level, a day after night temperatures broke a 41-year-old high and a dust storm made life miserable. The maximum was recorded at 39ºC, down from Thursday’s 41.2ºC while the minimum plunged to 28.4ºC from a four-decade record of 34.7ºC.
Monsoon arrived in the Northeast four days in advance and Guwahati in Assam recorded 113.8 mm of rainfall since Thursday night.
Most parts of the city were submerged while incessant showers triggered a landslide on the road leading to the Raj Bhavan, on the banks of river Brahmaputra.
The situation in flood-prone Lakhimpur district remained alarming with Brahmaputra and its tributaries Singora and Ranganadi flowing above the danger level due to continuous rainfall in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh. Rains were expected by June 8.
In Jammu and Kashmir, except for Kargil district, moderate to heavy rains were recorded causing a plunge in temperatures. The maximum rainfall of 24.6 mm was recorded at Kupwara district in North Kashmir followed by 16.6 mm rainfall at Pahalgam.
The hottest place in the north was Banda in Uttar Pradesh with a temperature of 45.4ºC. Varanasi recorded 44.2ºC and Lucknow 40.2ºC. Sikar was the hottest place in Rajasthan with a maximum of 42.5ºC followed by Kota at 42.4ºC. Churu Sriganganagar, Bar-mer and Jaisalmer also settled above 40ºC. —PTI