After pleasant days, intense heat in store for Delhi: IMD

Delhi is set to experience its warmest spell this summer with temperatures reaching over 41 degrees Celsius from Friday

The Capital is likely to see its warmest spell this summer from Friday when the temperature will suddenly cross the 41-degree mark in what the weather office described as a sudden spike in mercury.

People in Laxmi Nagar in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts on Wednesday, the maximum temperature will also touch the 42 degrees Celsius (°C) on Saturday — probably ending the unusually cool days May witnessed this year — due to a drop in wind speed, and clear skies.

So far, the highest maximum temperature this summer was recorded at 40.6°C on April 17. At the same time last year, the highest maximum recorded till this point was 43.5°C (May 1), while it was 42.2°C in 2021 (April 29). However, back-to-back western disturbances at the start of May have kept the maximum temperature below the 40-degree mark on all 10 days this month.

On Wednesday too, Delhi recorded a below-normal high of 36.7°C at Safdarjung, representational of the city’s weather. But the warmest location across the city was Najafgarh at 39.3°C. Delhi’s maximum on Tuesday was 37.2°C, two degrees below normal for this time of year.

“A combination of factors will lead to the sudden spike in mercury. Wind speeds will drop in the region over the next 48 hours and at the same time, cloudiness will also reduce. Surface heating is much faster when the skies are clear and we will see this over the weekend. The wind direction will also be westerly to northwesterly, which are dry winds,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

He added that while a western disturbance is expected on Friday, it is unlikely to influence the region significantly.

“The western disturbance will mainly impact Jammu and Kashmir, but towards NCR, we may see a dust storm on Saturday. Even with that, the maximum is expected to be over 40°C,” he said.

Owing to back-to-back western disturbances, May has also been wetter than usual, with the Capital recording 50.8mm of rain so far, which is nearly twice the monthly normal average mark of 30.7mm. It is also higher than the rain recorded in the entire month of May last year (47.7mm), IMD data shows. In 2021, Delhi recorded 144.8mm of rain during the month of May, while the all-time record stands at 165mm, which it recorded in May 2008.

In terms of minimum temperature, Delhi recorded a low of 20.9 °C on Wednesday, four degrees below normal. On Tuesday, it stood at 20.7°C.

This too is forecast to rise by 2-3 degrees over the weekend, making nights warmer too. “The minimum is likely to be around 23°C or 24°C over the weekend,” Srivastava added.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air was recorded in the poor category with an air quality index (AQI) of 203 — a slight deterioration in comparison to Tuesday’s 197 (moderate).

AQI is forecast to remain in the poor category on Thursday too, before possibly touching the very poor category on Friday, owing to dust intrusion.

The Central Pollution Control Board classifies AQI between 0-50 as “good”, between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as “very poor” and over 400 as “severe”.