Polonnaruwa recorded Sri Lanka’s highest temperature on Saturday at 37.2°C, according to data released by the Department of Meteorology.
Mullaitivu and Monaragala both reached 36.7°C, Pottuvil 36.1°C, and Trincomalee and Matale 36.0°C. Vavuniya recorded 35.7°C and Anuradhapura 33.7°C.
Coastal and southern stations were markedly cooler. Jaffna recorded 33.0°C, Colombo 31.4°C and Galle 29.6°C. In the hill country, Nuwara Eliya posted the lowest maximum temperature in the country at 19.7°C, with Katugastota at 29.0°C and Bandarawela at 28.8°C — a spread of 17.5°C between the hottest and coolest stations on the same day.
The forecast held
The readings track closely with the warm weather advisory the Met Department issued on Friday, which named the Eastern Province along with the Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Monaragala and Polonnaruwa districts as areas where the heat index would reach “Caution” level during Saturday daytime.
Polonnaruwa, Mullaitivu, Monaragala and Vavuniya were all on that list and all featured among the day’s highest readings. Pottuvil and Trincomalee sit within the Eastern Province, which was covered province-wide.
The Department said the highest temperatures were concentrated in the northern, north-central and eastern parts of the country.
Heat over a drought-hit zone
The hottest districts overlap substantially with those worst affected by the prevailing dry spell. Monaragala, which recorded 36.7°C, accounts for the largest share of the more than 81,000 people affected by dry weather across seven districts, according to the Disaster Management Centre. Polonnaruwa is also on that list.
The Met Department has put the likelihood of the current El Niño pattern persisting into the first quarter of next year at 97%.
