Days in Delhi to stay hot, humid; chances of rain: IMD

Delhi experienced high temperatures, humidity, and a lack of rainfall on Monday. Relief is expected from Tuesday with light to moderate rainfall.

High temperatures, persistent humidity and a lack of rainfall gave another hot and sultry to the Capital on Monday. Relief is expected from Tuesday, with the city likely to see light to moderate rainfall, weather officials said.

Clouds hover over Lodhi Garden in New Delhi on Monday. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

While humidity levels oscillated throughout the day, they touched a high of 84%.The maximum temperature was also recorded higher than usual at 38.2 degrees Celsius — three degrees above normal.

The conditions meant that Delhi’s wet bulb temperature — used to indicate whether the human body can effectively cool itself — was 29.5°C on Monday at 2:30pm. The heat index (HI), or “real-feel” temperature stood at 50°C at the same time.

However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast some relief in the coming days, with Delhi to see a gradual drop in temperature as rain intensity picks up from Tuesday.

While light to moderate rainfall is expected to be recorded in Delhi on Tuesday, moderate showers are forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

“Easterly winds are blowing towards Delhi, bringing moisture and leading to high humidity. At the same time, the monsoon trough was significantly south of Delhi and no rain was being recorded. In the next 24 hours, the western arm of the monsoon trough will return close to Delhi, bringing rain again,” said a Met official, stating while humidity will continue to remain high, a drop in maximum temperature and overcast conditions will provide some relief from the high wet bulb temperature.

A wet bulb range of 28 to 32°C is an indication that sweating is becoming difficult. A wet-bulb temperature of 32°C or higher can make it difficult for even fit and acclimatised people to work outdoors for too long, and at a wet-bulb temperature of 35°C — the maximum threshold, humans can no longer regulate body temperatures, leading to heatstrokes and potential collapse.

On Monday, no weather station in Delhi recorded any rain till 5:30pm. However, IMD said that light rain is possible in the early hours of Tuesday. Another spell of light to moderate rain is then expected post noon, leading to a drop in both maximum and minimum temperatures. While Delhi’s maximum could hover around 36°C, the minimum is expected to hover around the 27-degree mark. Delhi’s minimum on Monday was 28.5°C – a degree above normal.

In terms of air quality, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) remained in the “satisfactory” category. The 24-hour average AQI stood at 77 on Monday, a slight deterioration from Sunday’s reading of 73. Forecasts by the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi — a forecasting model under the ministry of earth sciences, shows that the AQI is likely to remain satisfactory till Wednesday now.