Mercury soars as Navtapa begins

RAIPUR: Even as Bilaspur and Raipur remain hottest in the state with maximum temperatures fluctuating between 43 and 45 degrees Celsius, weathermen said the ‘navtapa’ beginning from Thursday would further lead to sweltering heat for next few days.
While the heat waves continue to sweep the state, IMD said Raipur and Bilaspur were witnessing extreme sunlight for 6-10 hours.
On Thursday, Bilaspur recorded highest maximum temperature in state with 45.2 degrees Celsius followed by Raipur with 44.9 degrees Celsius and Rajnandgaon 44.8 degrees Celsius.
Whole state is witnessing dry and hot winds leading to dry and humid weather with winds coming from Rajasthan. The first four days of ‘navtapa’ (nine days of heat) would be very hot and would slowly get better with splash of rain and cloudy sky in succeeding days, said the pandits.
Though there are chances of light rainfall at isolated places due to extreme heat, weathermen said there seems to be no relief as of now from sweltering heat and the temperature is expected to rise further above 44.5 degrees Celsius.
With Bilaspur and Raipur, maximum temperatures remained two degrees above normal on an average in Bastar division, Durg and Rajnandgaon.
Meteorologists at IMD said that sun’s intensity in last five days has been at its worst with the extreme heat with sunlight present for almost 6-10 hours throughout the day.
Meanwhile, a team of weather scientists on Wednesday went to Bilaspur that witnessed its highest 49.3 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, to check if the thermometer was functioning well and it was found to be perfect. They had matched the thermometer with another one if both were recording the same temperatures.
Scientists were doubtful because there was dip of four degrees in maximum temperatures the next day.
However, a report would be soon released with details of reason that caused the soaring temperature to reach at its highest.