At 44.2 degrees Celsius, Delhi records hottest day of the year so far

The highest maximum temperature at any station of Delhi was recorded at 47.2 degrees Celsius at Mungeshwar station, followed by Najafgarh at 47 degrees Celsius - eight and seven notches above normal, respectively.

Delhi's Safdarjung observatory, which is the national capital's base weather station, recorded a maximum temperature of 44.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday, making it the hottest day of the year so far. The mercury settled at five notches above normal with the minimum temperature recorded at 26.5 degrees Celsius. Before today, the hottest days of the year were April 28, 29 and 30, when the maximum temperature at Safdarjung was recorded at 43.5 degrees Celsius.

Last year, the highest maximum temperature at the base station in May was only 41.6 degrees Celsius (May 5). (Amal KS/HT Photo)

Furthermore, according to 24-hour temperature observations by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), more than five weather stations in the national capital recorded over 45 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

The highest maximum temperature at any station was recorded at 47.2 degrees Celsius at Mungeshwar station, followed by Najafgarh at 47 degrees Celsius - eight and seven notches above normal, respectively.

Ridge, Ayanagar, Pitampura, Jafarpur and Sports Complex (in Akshardham) were other base weather stations in Delhi where the mercury was recorded above 45 degrees Celsius.

Met records show that the mercury has hit, or surpassed, 45 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung twice in the last four years.

Last year, the highest maximum temperature at the base station in May was only 41.6 degrees Celsius (May 5), while in 2020 and 2019, it was 46 degrees Celsius (May 27) and 44.7 degrees Celsius (May 31), respectively.

The all-time record for hottest May day is 47.2 degrees Celsius, which was recorded at Safdarjung on May 29, 1944.

This comes even as the Met department has predicted that heatwave to severe heatwave conditions will prevail throughout Saturday and continue on Sunday. An orange alert was issued for Saturday, which is a warning call for preventive action ahead of a weather phenomenon.

A yellow alert has been issued for Sunday, with the maximum temperature expected to hover between 44 and 46 degrees Celsius at most weather stations.

(With inputs from Delhi bureau)