An intense heat wave in mid- and late April 2022 brought temperatures 4.5 to 8.5°C (8 to 15°F) above normal in east, central, and northwest India—just weeks after the country recorded its hottest March since the country’ meteorological department began keeping records more than 120 years ago.
On April 27, 2022, the highest temperature in the country, 45.9°C (114.6°F), was recorded in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. The day before, a high of 45.1°C (113.2°F) was reported at Barmer in West Rajasthan in the northwest, according to the India Meteorological Department. Many other localities recorded temperatures of 42-44°C (108-111°F).
The map above shows modeled air temperatures on April 27, 2022. It was derived from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model, and represents air temperatures at 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) above the ground.
The effects of the heat wave include heat-related illnesses, poor air quality, little rainfall, and reduced crop yields. Additionally, power demand has spiked and coal inventories have dropped, leaving the country with its worst electricity shortage in more than six years. In the northern regions of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, mountain snow has been rapidly melting. Additionally, more than 300 large wildfires were burning around the country on April 27, according to the Forest Survey of India. Nearly a third of those were in Uttarakhand.
A bulge in the jet stream and a dome of high pressure have kept an unseasonably warm, dry air mass parked over the country, according to meteorologists. The heat wave conditions were expected to intensify in the next few days and persist for at least another week.
Heatwaves are common in India in the spring and early summer, especially in May, which is typically the hottest month. But they are often relieved by the onset of the monsoon season from late May through September. The number of spring heatwaves has been increasing, according to India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences, as 12 of the country’s 15 warmest years on record have occurred since 2006. A June 2015 heat wave killed more than 2,000 people.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using GEOS-5 data from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at NASA GSFC. Story by Sara E. Pratt.
