The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NATION

Read under headings Max (maximum temperature), Min (minimum temperature), R (rainfall in past 24 hours) and TR (Total rain since October 1):

Station	Max	Min	R	TR
Ahmedabad	34	25	0	211
Allahabad	41	32	0	132
Aurangabad	31	22	0	265
Bangalore	28	20	1	218
Baroda	33	26	0	333
Bhopal	33	24	0	150
Bhubaneswar	34	26	0	527
Chennai	38	25	12	64
Dehra Dun	31	23	2	292
Gangtok	20	17	3	1455
Guwahati	31	27	10	683
Hyderabad	31	23	0	231
Jaipur	38	27	0	53
Jamshedpur	35	26	1	515
Kolkata	34	27	0	696
Lucknow	41	26	5	169
Mumbai	32	27	1	5550
New Delhi	40	31	0	56
Patna	38	26	6	341
Pune	29	22	0	233
Port Blair	—	24	tr	296
Ranchi	34	24	0	503
Thiruvananthapuram	30	23	2	207

Rain likely in Punjab, HP
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 29
Rainfall: Rain or thundershowers have occurred at a few places in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and east Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places in west Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. Weather was mainly dry in the rest of the region. The chief amounts of rainfall in cm. are: Himachal Pradesh: Dharamsala and Sundernagar 4 each, Shimla 3, Solongnala 2 and Bangana, Dhundhi and Kangra 1 each, Jammu and Kashmir: Katra 3 and Kupwara and Pahalgam 1 each, Punjab: Ludhiana 3 and east Uttar Pradesh: Mukhlispur 4, Regoli 2 and Bansi, Basti, Bhinga, Karahi and Katerniaghat 1 each. Ludhiana (Punjab) reported hailstorm.

Forecast valid until the morning of July 31: Rain or thundershowers are likely at a few places in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, east Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal and at isolated places in Haryana and west Uttar Pradesh. Weather will be mainly dry in Rajasthan.

Forecast for Delhi and neighbourhood valid until the morning of July 31: Partly cloudy sky.

Farmers weather bulletin for Delhi forecast valid until the morning of July 31: Sky will be partly cloudy.

Outlook for the subsequent two days: No large change.

Driest-ever July as monsoon betrays

Chandigarh, July 29
With south-west monsoon continuing to betray most of the plains in the northwest region, the current month of July turned out to be the driest-ever.

However, Ludhiana and its surrounding areas had 27.8 mm of rain, as several places in Himachal Pradesh reported widespread rain during the past 24 hours.

The city and its surrounding areas of Punjab and Haryana, which normally get 262.2 mm of rain in the month of July, had only 71 mm of rain this year.

There was altogether 170.5 mm of rainlfall against the normal of 394.6 mm.

According to weather pundits here, chances of rain in the next 48 hours are very bleak in the two states.

An upper air cyclonic circulation over central Pakistan and adjoining Punjab is likely to cause light to moderate rain in HP and at isolated places in rest of the region over the next 48 hours.

Weathermen here attributed dry weather conditions in the north to the monsoon through shifting across the foothills of Himalayas. This had been causing widespread rain in the north eastern states.

Meanwhile, day temperatures shot appreciably above normal today with Hisar in Haryana and Delhi turning out to be the hottest places with 42°C and 39.4°C, respectively, unusual for the month of July.

Chandigarh and surrounding areas had the mercury rising to 37.2°C, four degrees above normal while it was up by three degrees at Ambala(37.3°C) and Patiala (36.7°C). Amritsar reported the maximum of 37°C, two degrees above normal while Ludhiana had the normal of 35.3°C.

Shimla reported fresh 0.6 mm rain during the day and the high of 24.6°C, two degrees above normal. Bhuntar and Sundar Nagar were hotter at 33.5°C and 34.2°C, respectively. UNI