Shimla records second hottest March since 1901

Shimla, (IANS) Shimla, fondly known as the queen of hills, experienced its second hottest March since 1901 this year.

"Both the minimum and maximum temperatures were above normal this March," said Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office Tuesday.

He said the highest temperature (25.8 degrees Celsius) was recorded March 23, making it the warmest day the Queen of Hills experienced seen since 2004. The all-time high since 1901 was recorded March 27, 2004, when the maximum was 27.2 degrees Celsius.

"In the beginning of March, the temperatures were near normal but started rising in the second week. The trend continued till the end of the month and on certain days the temperatures were nine to 10 degrees above normal," he said.

He attributed the unusual rise in temperatures to the dominance of westerly and southerly winds, in the normally prevalent north-westerly to northerly winds.

"Since 1969, for four years the maximum temperatures were 25 degrees Celsius or more in March " he said.

According to the met director, against the normal rainfall of 61 mm in March, the rainfall was only 4.1 mm last month. "March 2004, however, was totally dry. The highest ever precipitation recorded in Shimla was 231.4 mm in March 1911."