New Delhi: The city continued to swelter in extreme heat on Sunday. A marginal drop in the maximum temperature did not bring comfort, while a nighttime temperature of 26.2 degrees Celsius did not promise relief either.
The only relief, that too on paper, is that Delhi did not record a heatwave anywhere on Sunday after three days of back-to-back heatwaves.
Safdarjung logged a maximum of 42.1 degrees Celsius — 3 degrees above normal. It was 42.8 degrees Celsius on Saturday, Delhi’s hottest April day in four years.
The highest maximum across the city was 43.5 degrees Celsius at the Ridge. It was 44.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday when Delhi had its first citywide heatwave. Prior to that, Delhi saw heatwave conditions in isolated pockets on Thursday and Friday.
Yellow Alert for Monday
The IMD has sounded a yellow alert for isolated heatwave conditions on Monday too, with chances of a scattered drizzle to light rain post-noon.
Relief is likely on Tuesday and Wednesday, with scattered rain and strong winds leading to a marginal cooling effect. The mercury could dip below 40 degrees Celsius.
Heatwave Criteria
The IMD announces a heatwave when the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 degrees above normal and above 40 degrees Celsius. A heatwave is also declared if the maximum is 45 degrees Celsius or more. No station met the criteria on Sunday, while four stations, including Safdarjung, were meeting it on Saturday.
“In Delhi, maximum temperatures were observed in the range of 42-44 degrees Celsius on Sunday, yet no heatwave conditions have been observed due to a slight fall of 1 degree Celsius in the maximum temperature and close to a 1 degree Celsius rise in the normal temperature,” said IMD officials.
“Normal temperatures change after a five-day interval and are called Pentad Normals. The normal temperature for Safdarjung for the period April 26-30 is 39 degrees Celsius, while it was 37.7 degrees Celsius for the period April 21-25,” officials added.
Forecast and Relief
Initially, the Met had issued an orange alert for Delhi, forecasting the maximum to be between 43 and 45 degrees Celsius. Forecasts show a maximum of 43-45 degrees Celsius is likely on Monday, but with overcast skies and rain returning, it is expected to be between 40-42 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and dip further to 39-41 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. “The cloudiness is expected to remain on Thursday too, by which time the maximum may fall to close to 37 degrees Celsius,” another IMD official said.
On Sunday, the minimum was 26.2 degrees Celsius, 2 notches above normal and the warmest this month.
Last year, the highest minimum temperature recorded in April was 27.2 degrees Celsius, and prior to this it was in April 2019 that the highest minimum went to 27.1 degrees Celsius, making 26.2 degrees Celsius recorded on Sunday the second highest for April since 2019.
Nights will continue to stay warm, with the minimum hovering between 26-28 degrees Celsius on Monday and between 27-29 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.
The AQI was 222 (poor) on Sunday, a marginal improvement from 243 on Saturday.
The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi says AQI is likely to be poor till Monday, before improving to moderate on Tuesday.
