Explained: Why India is experiencing a terrible heatwave in March 

It’s just the middle of March and parts of India have already started to experience terrible heatwave. In fact, over the last weekend, parts of New Delhi experienced a record temperature of over 38 degree Celsius, the hottest for March in the last decade. Jammu and Kashmir as well as Uttarakhand also reported heatwaves that the states have never witnessed before. Rajasthan has also been baking under this heatwave since the first week of March. But why is it suddenly so hot in March itself, especially in North and North-western India? Let us find out.  

How is India’s usual climate in March? 
Under usual circumstances, as winter ends and spring sets in, temperatures in India start to go up since the end of March to early April. This begins with the southern parts, followed by central and finally northern India. Usually, in this month, the maximum heating zone runs along central India regions such as Odisha and Gujarat. This is also when hot winds from the desert areas of northwest India start contributing to the rising temperatures in central India. However, in extreme north and northeast as well as southwest, temperatures reach the peak only between the end of April and the beginning of May as these regions are lesser prone to heatwaves. But this year, things have visibly changed.  

Reasons behind the heatwave 
In 2022, the latest heatwave has not only been prolonged but also expanded across unusually large geographical locations ranging from north and northwest India such as Jammu, Kutch-Saurashtra, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. It also spread to the western states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra till eastern India in West Bengal and Odisha.  

This has been mainly due to no visible or active western disturbances which are otherwise supposed to bring forth colder winds. Not only that, the southerly winds didn’t stay put in their locations, and moved to north and northwest India, soaring the temperatures. As a result, temperatures were exponentially higher than normal.  

Apart from these unusual seasonal transitions, the absence of post-winter or pre-summer showers that usually keep the temperature under control in March, has too, contributed to the overall rise in temperatures. There has been a severe lack of expected thunderstorms and rainfall in most parts of the country that are usually scheduled for March. In fact, sources reveal that 2022 has already recorded an all-India rain deficit till March. Only Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Kerala received their surplus rain, while all the other states as well as the Union Territories have remained dry.  

India has also been indirectly experiencing the effects of historically drastic temperature rise along eastern Antarctica, that were recorded at 40 degree Celsius above normal. This has in turn led to the arrival of unusually warm westerly winds that has reached the Indian Ocean and in turn India itself.