New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) With Monsoon clouds gathering over parts of Bay of Bengal and the south Andaman Sea, the weather conditions in these areas as well as the north and central parts of the country remained pleasant Tuesday.

According to the Met Department, the southwest Monsoon is likely to hit the Kerala coast about five to seven days before the scheduled date of June 1. The news of approaching Monsoon, which accounts for four-fifths of the nation's annual rains, brought cheer to farmers across the country.

The overcast conditions kept the temperatures in most of the places adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal below normal, and a low-pressure area has formed over north Andaman Sea, the Met Office said.

The highest maximum temperature of 43.7 degrees Celsius in the country was recorded at Ongole (Andhra Pradesh).

In the capital, it was a comparatively pleasant day Tuesday with the maximum temperature remaining at 37.9 degrees Celsius, one degree Celsius below normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded 27.3 degrees Celsius.

Taking advantage of a day that was relatively less hot, Delhi residents could be seen venturing out of their homes or work places without umbrellas or caps. The sun beat down, but it was less harsh than a fortnight back.

If the Met Department is to be believed, these weather conditions are likely to persist in the capital and north and central regions of the country over the next three to four days.

During the 24 hours end Tusday aftenoon, widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls occurred over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The enhanced rainfall activity is likely to continue during the next 2-3 days, the weatherman said.

Isolated squall is also forecast over West Bengal, Sikkim, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, east Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

The following were the maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall figure in major cities for the 24 hours till Tuesday evening, with figures in brackets denoting deviations from the average:

City Maximum Temperature (C) Minimum Temperature (C) Rainfall (mm)

Delhi 37.9 (-1) 27.3 (+2) Nil

Mumbai 33 (0) 26 (0) Nil

Chennai 41.2 (+4) 24.2 (-4) Nil

Kolkata 36.5 (+1) 27.6 (+2) Trace

Ahmedabad 41.0 (-1) 26.6 (+1) Nil

Bangalore 35.6 (0) 22 (0) Nil

Bhopal 40.6 (0) 16.6 (-8) Nil

Bhubaneshwar 37.8 (0) 24.6 (-2) Nil

Chandigarh 32.4 (0) 21.4 (0) Trace

Dehradun 34.9 (-1) 18.8 (-1) Nil

Panaji 34.3 (+1) 24.8 (-1) Nil

Guwahati 36.4 (+5) 23.4 (+1) Nil

Hyderabad 40.2 (+1) 26.7 (+1) Nil

Jaipur 39.6 (0) 18.6 (-6) Nil

Lucknow 39.2 (-1) 23.8 (0) Nil

Nagpur 43.8 (+1) 27.1 (-1) Nil

Patna 38.0 (-1) 25.4 (0) Nil

Pune 37.3 (-1) 21.8 (0) Nil

Srinagar 23.6 (0) 12.2 (0) Nil

Thiruvananthapuram 32.6 (+1) 25.2 (0) Nil