In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare the soothsayer warns the Roman Emperor about Ides of March. As far summer goes for the Indian sub continent it may not be out of place to mention “Beware of Ides of March”. Going by the seasonal forecast by IMD for the month of March large parts of the Indian sub continent may be anomalously hot this month. According to IMD summer season starts from 1st March. It’s that time of the year to say Summer has arrived over Interior Peninsular India.
Indeed the satellite image sums up the large scale dry weather that has now engulfed the Indian Sub continent. Sub seasonal ensembles does confirm most parts of the country may remain dry with below normal rainfall. This in turn has set the conditions ripe for increased afternoon heat. Clear skies allowing temperatures to spike up. Weather models indicate most of North India may see temperatures stay 4 – 6°C abvoe normal. Some parts of J&K may see as high as 7 – 10°C above normal afternoon temperatures this week.
Peninsular India may not see such high anomalously hot afternoons. But interior areas over the next few days may see afternoon temperatures stay a couple of degrees above normal. Towards the end of the week parts of AP may see 3 – 5°C above normal temperatures. Even before that we are likely to see the first 40°C of the Indian sub continent today or tomorrow. Interior TN all the way from Ranipet to Coimbatore districts are likely to see increase in afternoon temperatures.
Comparatively Coastal TN may be the only stretch which may not yet say Summer has arrived. For that to come we may have to wait for the seasonal wind change. Until then its Summer for interior areas of Peninsular India. Next couple of weeks not much rainfall activity is expected either. Overall dry weather conditions with hot afternoons and cool nights may continue.