Rain of little relief to south India; heat toll nears 2,200

Despite hopes that weekend thundershowers would help end a raging heat wave in southern India, the rain brought only limited relief as the death toll since mid-April approached 2,200. Officials said Sunday that the intense heat was likely to continue for another day in worst-hit Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. Daytime temperatures hovered between 45 and 47 degrees Celsius in parts of the two states over the weekend, 3 to 7 degrees Celsius above normal, said K.Y. Reddy, a director of the Meteorological Center in the Telangana state capital of Hyderabad. Thundershowers brought relief to people in other areas.

We can’t bear this heat. The situation is worsened by frequent power outages.

Rekha Tiwari, a housewife in Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh state capital

Cooling monsoon rains are expected this week in southern India before gradually advancing north. The monsoon season will last until the end of September. Forecasting service AccuWeather warned last week of prolonged drought conditions in India, with the monsoon likely to be disrupted by a more active typhoon season over the Pacific.

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