April ends on a fiery note in Delhi: 47.1°C at Sports Complex

Safdarjung, the base station for Delhi’s weather, recorded a maximum of 43.5°C for a third straight day — the highest so far for Delhi this year and also the hottest April day since April 18, 2010, when it touched 43.7°C.

April ended on a fiery note for the Capital, with the temperature crossing the 47-degree Celsius mark the Sports Complex station in Akshardham for the first time this year, as ‘heatwave’ to ‘severe heatwave’ conditions prevailed for a third consecutive day.

IMD officials said Sunday is likely to see the sweltering heat continue across the city. (Raj K Raj/HT)

Safdarjung, the base station for Delhi’s weather, recorded a maximum of 43.5°C for a third straight day — the highest so far for Delhi this year and also the hottest April day since April 18, 2010, when it touched 43.7°C

The Sports Complex station was Delhi’s hottest spot on Saturday, with the mercury touching 47.1°C during the day, also making it only the second hottest location in the country behind Banda in east Uttar Pradesh (47.2°C).

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast that the mercury may drop by a degree or two in parts of the city by Monday, owing to a fresh western disturbance, which will bring gusty winds of up to 50km/hr on Tuesday, accompanied by dust storms and thunderstorms.

RK Jenamani, scientist at IMD said that while no rain is expected in this spell, the western disturbance could still provide some relief and pull the maximum temperature down to between 42°C and 44°C by Tuesday. Delhi will see a second western disturbance by May 4 that is likely to bring some drizzle on Wednesday and Thursday.

However, before that, Sunday is likely to see the sweltering heat continue across the city.

“On Sunday, the temperature will be around 43°C to 46°C in parts of Delhi, with some stations recording a slight drop in temperature. It could drop by another degree by Monday, when thunderstorm and dust storm activity is expected towards the evening and night,” said Jenamani.

The IMD declares it a heatwave across the plains when the maximum temperature is 40.0°C or higher and 4.5 degrees or more above the normal mark. It is a severe heatwave if it is 6.5 degrees or more above normal.

Recently, the mercury last touched the 47°C mark in May, 2020, when it hit 47.6°C at Palam on May 26, followed by a high of 47.2°C on May 27 at the same station.

Data from Delhi’s 11 weather stations on Saturday showed all locations in the Capital crossed 43°C. While the lowest maximum was recorded at Mayur Vihar (43.1°C), the hottest spots after the Sports Complex station were Mungeshpur (46°C), Pitampura (45.9°C) and Najafgarh (45.9°C).

As per IMD records, this April has been Delhi’s second hottest in the last 72 years, if data from 1951 until 2022 was looked at. Delhi recorded an average maximum temperature of 40.2°C across the month, lower only than 2010, when the average was 40.4 degrees.