Delhi's infamous Mungeshpur weather station sees heatwave on reopening day

IMD officials said that Thursday’s readings at the station kept the city under ‘heatwave’ conditions for a fourth straight day

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday formally reopened the infamous Mungeshpur weather station, nearly a year after it was closed in the days following record high temperature readings.

A child at a water park in the city as the maximum temperature touched 43.9°C on Thursday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Soon after it was made operational, the station in northwest Delhi became the only station in the city to record “heatwave conditions” — a year ago, it was the only station to log a record maximum temperature of 52.9°C on May 29. A day before that too, the automatic weather station (AWS) had touched an all-time high of 49.9°C.

IMD had later dismissed the May 29, 2024 reading as a “sensor error” and subsequently closed the station, saying that the sensors would be replaced before making it operational.

The sensors were replaced on April 30 this year, hurriedly after HT’s visit at the place a day before that. However, IMD had said it would share data only after assessing it and calibrating the station correctly.

Past readings show that Mungeshpur has regularly been a hot spot in the city. It scorched with a high of 49.2°C on May 15, 2022 as well.

Mungeshpur is essentially an urban village with agricultural land around it. HT’s reporting last year suggested that Mungeshpur could be a victim of the urban heat island effect — a phenomenon where buildings that are close to each other, and paved roads transmit heat, and prevent cooling at night — and while more studies are needed to establish this, the topography of the area has not changed, which means this year could be as hot.

IMD officials said that Thursday’s readings at the station kept the city under “heatwave” conditions for a fourth straight day.

According to the weather department, a “heatwave” is when the maximum temperature is over 40°C, with the departure being 4.5°C or more above normal. It is also a heatwave if the maximum is 45°C or higher in the plains. Mungeshpur was the only weather station in the city meeting this criteria on Thursday – recording a maximum over 45°C. On June 11, only one station – Ayanagar — recorded heatwave conditions. On June 10, three locations – Ayanagar, Lodhi road and Ridge recorded heatwave conditions, while on June 9, Ayanagar again met the heatwave criteria.

“Isolated parts of Delhi recorded heatwave conditions on Thursday. Heatwave conditions are likely to abate on Friday, with the maximum expected to marginally dip at all locations,” an IMD official said.