Long-range forecast: A warmer-than-normal summer is expected to be witnessed in India this year, with El Nino conditions expected to continue at least until May, the India Meteorological Department said on Friday. As per the IMD, there could be more heatwave days than normal over northeast peninsular India, a region that includes Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and north interior Karnataka, and many parts of Maharashtra and Odisha, IMD said.

As per IMD forecast, India is likely to record above-normal rainfall in March (more than 117 per cent of the long-period average of 29.9 mm). India is likely to see above-normal maximum and minimum temperatures in most parts of the country in the March to May period, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said while addressing mediapersons.

The IMD chief said heatwave conditions are not expected over north and central India in March, he said. Lok Sabha polls are likely to be held in April-May.

Mohapatra said the prevailing El Nino conditions, the periodic warming of waters in the central Pacific Ocean, will continue through the summer season and neutral conditions are likely to develop thereafter.

The IMD chief said La Nina conditions, which are generally associated with good monsoon rainfall in India, are likely to set in by the second half of the monsoon season.  Mohapatra further said that India recorded an average minimum temperature of 14.61 degrees Celsius in February, the second highest in the month since 1901.

In terms of western disturbances (WDs), a phenomenon that causes a change in weather, India witnessed eight WDs, which especially affected the weather in western Himalayan states in February. Of these, six were active western disturbances that led to rain and hailstorms over the plains in north and central India, the IMD said. 

(With PTI inputs)