Desk Report : People in the capital experienced the hottest day in the last 54 years as the mercury shot up to 40.7 degrees Celsius yesterday, the Met office says.  

In Dhaka, the highest 42.3 degrees Celsius temperature was recorded on April 30, 1960.

Unlike an average month of April, when people get a respite from the sweltering heat due to short-lived nor'westers, the country has hardly seen any such storms this month.

For the last few days, the city dwellers have been feeling the pinch of sultry weather, with the mercury creeping up mercilessly to over 37 degrees without any break.

The Met office, however, said temperatures might go down in a couple of days as the country could experience rain from Sunday.

"But the rainfall will not last more than three days and the hot spell will start again," Shah Alam, director of Dhaka Met office, said yesterday.

Though Dhaka saw record high temperature in the last 54 years yesterday, it was not the highest in the country. The highest, 42.4 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Jessore yesterday.

The normal maximum temperature in April is 33.7 degrees Celsius in Dhaka and 35.6 degrees Celsius in Jessore.

The Met office did not have a record of more than 2 mm rainfall in the last 15 days.

The rainfall will be less than normal in this monsoon, according to Shah Alam's forecast. 

A forum of global weather experts on Wednesday said India and its South Asian neighbours are expected to see below-average to average rains this year if the El Nino weather pattern gains strength during the four-month monsoon season, reports Reuters.

"There is a strong consensus about the possibility of evolution of an El Nino event during the summer monsoon season," said DS Pai, the lead forecaster of the Indian weather office.

Pai made the comment while releasing the consensus forecast of the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum, a group of global weather experts affiliated to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Rains could be below average in Sri Lanka, Bhutan and some parts of Pakistan, while an average monsoon is expected in Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan, Pai said. the daily star

Local Time : 0246 Hours, 25 April 2024

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