An accentuated “hot blob” over Vidarbha,India, during the pre-monsoon season

A “hot blob”, distinct hot region, is identified over Vidarbha in the south-central parts of the Indian subcontinent during the pre-monsoon season from the analysis of gridded surface air maximum temperature data from India Meteorological Department for the period 1951–2019. Spatial distribution and frequencies of temperatures?>?40 °C and?>?42 °C establish the hot blob over Vidarbha region. A similar analysis of simulated maximum temperatures from the NEX-GDDP substantiates the revelation of the “hot blob” over Vidarbha. Further, analysis of the wind circulation at 850 hPa over South Asia region indicates that the “COL” region between the two seasonal high-pressure systems over the Indian Ocean seas, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea promotes accumulation of heat over Vidarbha. Further, horizontal temperature convergence complimented by strong local heating of the black soil aids and abets the sustenance of the “hot blob”. This “hot blob” region is observed to be hotter as well as having higher frequencies of hot days than the north-west desert Rajasthan region and assumes importance as its modulation causes heatwaves over the south-east coastal regions. This study establishes the presence of the hottest region over Vidarbha in south-central parts, paradoxically hotter than the desert north-west region of India.