Scorching spell grips state, city nears 43°C

Bhopal: Intense heatwave conditions continued to grip Madhya Pradesh on Friday, with Bhopal recording its third consecutive day of scorching temperatures near the 43-degree mark, while several districts remained under heatwave alerts issued by the meteorological department.The state capital recorded a maximum temperature of 42.8 degrees on Friday, marginally lower than Thursday's 43.4 degrees, but the slight dip brought little relief as hot winds and rising night temperatures pushed the city towards near heatwave-like conditions. The minimum temperature in Bhopal also climbed sharply to 29.8 degrees, nearly four degrees above what was recorded earlier this week.Weather officials said the ongoing spell of extreme heat is being driven by the combined impact of a western disturbance and cyclonic circulation pattern affecting atmospheric conditions over central India. According to the forecast issued for Saturday, temperatures in Bhopal could rise further by another 2 to 3 degrees, with minimum temperatures also likely to cross the 30-degree mark.The heatwave conditions were more severe in other parts of the state, with Khandwa emerging as the hottest place in Madhya Pradesh after recording a maximum temperature of 45.1 degrees on Friday. Ratlam witnessed official heatwave conditions during the past 24 hours, while Mandla recorded unusually warm night conditions.The meteorological department has issued an orange alert for heatwave conditions in Ratlam, Ujjain, Dhar, Indore and Dewas districts on Saturday. A yellow alert has also been sounded for several districts, including Bhopal, Gwalior, Morena, Bhind, Datia, Shivpuri, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Panna, Damoh, Sagar, Vidisha, Raisen, Rajgarh, Sehore, Harda, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Khargone, Khandwa, Burhanpur, Barwani and Mandla.Officials said maximum temperatures during the last 24 hours remained 1.9 to 3 degrees above normal in districts of Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain and Sagar divisions, while minimum temperatures were recorded 2.2 to 2.7 degrees above normal in parts of Ujjain, Gwalior, Rewa and Shahdol divisions.Despite the widespread heat, light rainfall activity was reported at a few places in Shahdol division and isolated pockets of Gwalior, Rewa, Jabalpur and Sagar divisions during the last 24 hours. However, most parts of the state remained dry, allowing heat conditions to intensify further.