Maximum temperatures dipped slightly over large parts of northwest and central India on Thursday but there was no respite from the searing heat as mercury remained above 47 degrees across Haryana, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
The weather office said intensity of heat wave/severe heat wave has slightly reduced over some parts of northwest and adjoining central India.
Ganganagar in Rajasthan was the hottest in the country at 48.3 degrees Celsius followed by Sidhi in Madhya Pradesh at 48.2 degrees and Varanasi at 47.8 degrees, while Rohtak and Narnaul in Haryana recorded 47.5 degrees each.
Parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh experienced hailstorm and thunderstorm late Thursday evening bringing much needed respite from the heat wave conditions.
Temperatures dipped in southern Rajasthan and southern Madhya Pradesh owing to incursion of moisture-laden southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea and this declining trend of temperatures was likely to extend to parts of northwest India over the next two-three days.
In Delhi, Ayanagar was the hottest region with mercury touching 47 degrees Celsius, followed by the Ridge area (46.7 degrees), and Palam (46.4 degrees), while Safdarjung, the base station for the national capital, sizzled at 45.6 degrees.
In Rajasthan, the places that reeled under intense heat were Pilani (47.6 degrees Celsius), Sangaria (47.2 degrees) in Hanumangarh, Churu (47 degrees) and Phalodi (46.8 degrees).
The mercury soared to 46.8 degrees Celsius in Bikaner, 46.1 degrees in Jaisalmer, 46 degrees in Alwar, 45.9 degrees in Dholpur, 45.3 degrees in Jaipur and 44.5 degrees in Kota.
Chandigarh, the common capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a maximum of 44.9 degrees Celsius.
Among other places in Punjab, intense heat prevailed in Bathinda which clocked 46.4 degrees Celsius, while Amritsar recorded a maximum of 45.4 degrees Celsius.
Ludhiana registered a high of 45.6 degrees Celsius, Patiala 46.2 degrees Celsius, while Gurdaspur's maximum settled at 43 degrees Celsius.
Mid and higher hills of Himachal Pradesh experienced slight relief from scorching heat as light rain occurred in some places, bringing down the mercury by one to two degrees Celsius.
Maximum temperatures dropped marginally, with Una recording a high of 43.8 degrees Celsius compared to 46 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. Neri was the hottest in the state at 45.6 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, Manali recorded 10 mm of rainfall, followed by Keylong with 5 mm, Kalpa with 3 mm, Shimla with 2 mm and Bhuntar and Sainj with 1 mm each, according to the weather office.
