Winter bows out as mercury touches 35°C, heat set to rise

Bhopal: Winter seems like a faded memory for Bhopal now, as the sun is beating down through clear skies, roasting the city and its outskirts. In a possible indication of what is to follow as summer settles in and entrenches itself in the state, the city sweltered at 35°C while neighbouring Narmadapuram district saw the mercury set a scorching pace upward, nearly hitting 40°C.The regional meteorological office held out no hope of any respite anytime soon, as the temperature is likely to increase by 3 degrees over the next 3-4 days.According to the Met office, an upper air cyclonic circulation over north Odisha and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal was persisting at 0.9 km above mean sea level, while a trough, originating in central Uttar Pradesh, was approaching towards the cyclonic circulation over north Odisha and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal, and is likely pass over Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh, south Jharkhand at 0.9 km above mean sea level.A subtropical westerly jet stream, packing core winds of 204 kmph, at 12.6 km above mean sea level, prevailed over northwest India, while a fresh western disturbance lay roughly along longitude 50 degrees east to the north of latitude 30 degrees north, the meteorological dept stated, adding that dry weather would prevail in the state under the influence of these weather systems.Meanwhile, the day temperature in Bhopal on Thursday was recorded at 34.6°C, three degrees above normal, while the night temperature was 15°C, normal for this time of the year. Narmadapuram was the hottest in the state today, scorching 39.4°C.The Met predicted clear skies for the city on Friday, with the maximum temperature at 35°C and the minimum at 15°C, while average wind speed will be 10 kmph. The state would also experience bone-dry weather on Friday, the forecasters said.