With the onset of summer, above-normal temperatures have been reported from most parts of the State.
The highest temperature of 38.5 °C in February this year was recorded in Kottayam on Wednesday and Kannur on February 17, around 4 ̊C higher than the normal temperature during this period.
In Kottayam, this is the highest-ever recorded maximum temperature in February, where the same temperature was also recorded on February 24, 2020. On the other hand, the February extreme recorded in Kannur was 38.8 ̊C on February 20, 2016.
With the temperatures soaring beyond normal, the India Meteorological Department issued a heat alert warning of up to 4 ̊C above normal for 12 districts until March 1.
Maximum temperatures are likely to be around 38 ̊C in Kollam, Alappuzha, and Kottayam districts, around 37 ̊C in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Kannur, and Kasaragod districts, and around 36 ̊C in Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts (2 to 4 ̊C above normal) till March 1.
The highest maximum temperature of 40.1 °C in February was recorded in Punalur on February 8, 1975 followed by 40 ̊C in Palakkad on February 28, 1981 and 39.7 ̊C at Vellanikkara in Thrissur on February 26, 2017 according to the data available with the IMD.
Temperatures recorded in the manual observatories of the IMD are considered for official forecasting. However, the mercury has reached the 40 ̊C at many places in the State where automatic weather stations (AWS) have been set up recently, according to IMD officials.
However, the temperatures recorded in the AWSs are not used for forecasting purposes since the calibration of sensors at some of the stations has been pending.
