India recorded hottest March since 1901. The monthly average for March 2022 stands at 33.1 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous all-time record of 33.09 degrees Celsius of 2010, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The IMD reports also stated that the average rainfall over the country was also found to be 71% less than its Long Period Average (LPA) during the month.

While the average maximum was observed at 33.10ºC (which was 1.86ºC above normal), the average minimum temperature of 20.24ºC was the third highest with a difference of 1.37ºC, the reports said. The mean temperature was second highest with anomaly 1.61ºC since 1901.

The observations are against the normal of 31.24ºC, 18.87ºC and 25.06ºC based on period 1981-2010, as per the report.

The northwest region recorded its highest average maximum ( clocking 3.91ºC above normal), the central recorded it's second-warmest March with a 1.62ºC difference.

The mean temperature over South Peninsular region, meanwhile, witnessed its fourth-highest with anomaly of 0.59ºC since 1901.

Meanwhile, the country, on average, recorded 8.9 mm rain for the month of March, which is 71% less than its Long Period Average (LPA) of 30.4 mm. The rainfall last month was the third-lowest since 1901 after the years 1909 ( 7.2 mm) and 1908 (8.7 mm).

The weather department however predicted severe heat wave conditions at isolated places between April 3 and 6.

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