Gulbarga, May 15 (Agencies) : Gulbarga has justified its reputation as ‘Sun City’ with the temperature rising to 46.1 degrees Celsius on May 13, even as the torrid heat claimed three lives in contiguous Andhra Pradesh and scorched several northern parts of the country. 

The unprecedented hot conditions prevailing for a week in the northern Karnataka region culminated in the mercury soaring to a never-before high in the history of the city. With this, Gulbarga registered itself as the hottest city of Karnataka. The minimum temperature recorded for the day — 29.6 degrees Celsius — is also a record in terms of the highest night temperature.

The maximum temperature recorded by the city hitherto was 45.4 degrees Celsius on May 17, 1989, that broke the previous record of 45 degrees Celsius set on May 18, 1912, and equalled on June 1, 1923.

May, the hottest month of the summer season beginning mid-February and lasting up to the first week of June, has a mean daily maximum temperature of 40.6 degrees Celsius while the mean daily minimum temperature is 26.3 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature for the current season is 5.5 degrees more than the mean temperature and the minimum temperature was 3.3 degrees more than the mean minimum.
In the northern region, the unbearable temperatures affected normal life as Churu in Rajasthan sizzled at a high of 45.8 degrees Celsius. In Jodhpur, the mercury settled at 43.4 degrees, the meteorological department said.

 In Punjab and Haryana, the heat wave intensified with daytime temperature going up to five degrees above normal forcing people to stay indoors. Hisar was the hottest in the region at a high of 45 degrees.

In the national capital, residents had to face another hot day with the maximum temperature being recorded at 43.2 degrees.