For the first time since 2019, mercury officially crossed the 40°C mark in Kerala with Palakkad recording the season’s highest temperature on Saturday and Friday.
The temperatures recorded at the meteorological station in Palakkad were 40.4 °C and 40.0° C, respectively, on Saturday and Friday. The station had earlier recorded 40.2 °C and 40.8 °C in two back-to-back days in 2019 (on March 28 and 29, respectively). Vellanikkara in Thrissur was another station that recorded 40.4 °C in 2019.
Meanwhile, large parts of the State continue to simmer in the heat as summer thundershowers remain elusive, especially in central and northern Kerala. The summer rain is around 69% deficient in Kerala with the State netting only 10.1 mm of rainfall so far against the average of 32.4 mm during the period from March 1 to 30.
