Most parts of the country are expected to witness hotter-than-usual temperatures during summer months (April-June), with more heatwave days likely along central and eastern and the northwestern plains, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Monday. It added that in some areas in western and eastern India, the temperatures are expected to be normal, while minimum temperatures will also be above normal in most regions.
The forecast of a higher temperature is further expected to boost electricity demand this summer season, while the supply of drinking water supply could be impacted because of a spurt in demand. No major impact of rabi crop is seen because the harvesting has progressed already for all crops, including wheat.
Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director gGeneral, IMD cautioned that during next three months, most parts of north and east India, central India, and the plains of northwest India are expected to experience 2-4 more heatwave days than normal. Usually, India records 4 – 7 heatwave days from April to June.
The states which may see ‘above-normal’ heatwave days include Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and the northern parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Higher temperature is likely to boost irrigation water requirements for horticultural crops including fruits and vegetables. Although harvesting of rabi or winter crops which have commenced this month would be completed in the next month.
However, for the month of April, the met department has predicted that most parts of India will likely witness higher-than-usual maximum temperatures. However, some areas in the extreme southern and the northwestern regions may experience normal temperatures.
The average rainfall during April 2025 over the country as a whole is most likely to be normal in the range of 88%-112% of benchmark – long period average.
The met department also stated that heat waves was mainly observed over western India during March 10-15 and east central India during March 15-18, while in its forecast for the month it had stated a much wider area to get hotter weather from Rajasthan to north interior Karnataka.
Meanwhile, IMD also stated there are 75% chances of a transition of El Niño-southern oscillation to ‘neutral’ position during April 2025 and is favored to persist through the end of this year, boosting prospects of normal monsoon during June-September period this year.
“El Nino condition is ruled out during monsoon season this year,” Mohapatra said while adding that the met office will release the first monsoon forecast for the current year by middle of April.
The weather office also predicted neutral Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions likely to continue during the upcoming season.