2015 Indian heat wave

2015 Indian heatwave

Khammam 48 °C (118 °F) Allahabad 47.8 °C (118.0 °F) Hyderabad 46 °C (115 °F) Delhi 45.5 °C (113.9 °F) Jharsuguda 45.4 °C (113.7 °F) A map marking significantly affected cities
Date	Since May 2015
Location	India
As of 3 June 2015[update], there were at least 2,500 deaths

In May 2015, India was struck by a severe heat wave. As of 3 June 2015^[update], it has caused the deaths of at least 2,500 people in multiple regions. The heat wave occurred during the Indian dry season, which typically lasts from March to July with peak temperatures in April and May. Although it typically remains hot until late October, Indian monsoons often provide some respite from the heat.

The South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and the neighbouring Telangana, where more than 1,735 and 585 people died respectively, were the areas most affected by the heat wave. Other casualties were from the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha. The high demand for electricity to power air conditioning led to power outages in some cities. The 2015 heat wave has had the highest recorded temperatures since 1995. In May 2016, a new record was set in Phalodi.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), a heat wave is qualified when air temperatures of at least 40 °C (104 °F) in the plains or greater than 30 °C (86 °F) in the hilly regions. For the IMD classification of heat waves, temperatures greater than 46 °C (114.8 °F) are considered and classified as severe heat waves.

Every year India experiences severe heat waves in summer, but in the year 2015, casualties were abnormally high. Most of the deaths were concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar. More than 20,000 people have died of heat-related causes in India since 1990. In the recent past, the most severe period of hot weather occurred in 1995, when 1,677 people died due to a series of heatwaves. 793 people died in 2011 while 1,247 died in 2012 due to heat related causes. In 2013, 1,216 people died due to the heat. With over 2,500 deaths, the heat wave has proven to be the most deadly since 1979. The casualties crossed the mark of previous years rapidly in 2015.