Delhi swelters at 42.1°C, rainfall likely to bring respite from Tuesday

A “yellow alert” has been issued by IMD for isolated heatwave conditions on Monday, with chances of some scattered drizzle to light rain post noon.

Despite a marginal dip in mercury, Delhi residents continued to reel under intense heat as the Capital logged a maximum temperature of 42.1 degrees Celsius (°C) on Sunday – three degrees above normal. The city is likely to experience similar conditions on Monday as well, with a “yellow alert” for heat in the first half of the day, while spells of rain may bring some relief from Tuesday onwards, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Women cover themselves with scarves on a hot summer day, near Red Fort, in New Delhi on Sunday. (ANI)

Safdarjung, the city’s base station for weather, logged a maximum of 42.1°C. It was 42.8°C on Saturday, in what was Delhi’s hottest April day in four years. The highest maximum across the city on Sunday was 43.5°C at the Ridge station – four notches above normal. It was 44.5°C on Saturday as Delhi logged its first city-wide heatwave day. Prior to that, Delhi had seen heatwave conditions in isolated pockets on Thursday and Friday.

Rainfall prediction

A “yellow alert” has been issued by IMD for isolated heatwave conditions on Monday as well, with chances of some scattered drizzle to light rain in parts of the city post noon. Relief is likely on Tuesday and Wednesday, with scattered rain and strong winds leading to a marginal cooling effect, with mercury dipping below 40°C, according to IMD’s forecast.

IMD classifies a heatwave when the maximum temperature is at least 4.5°C above normal and crosses 40°C; it is also declared if the maximum touches 45°C or more. No station met this criteria on Sunday, while four stations, including Safdarjung, met it on Saturday.

“In Delhi, maximum temperatures were observed in the range of 42-44°C on Sunday, yet no heatwave conditions have been observed due to a slight fall of 1°C in the maximum temperature and close to a 1°C rise in the normal temperature,” said IMD scientist Krishna Mishra.

“Normal temperatures change after every five-day interval … Normal temperature for Safdarjung for the period April 26-30 is 39°C, while it was 37.7°C for the period April 21-25,” Mishra added.

Initially, in the first half of the day, IMD had issued an “orange alert” for Delhi, forecasting the maximum to possibly be between 43-45°C. Forecasts show a maximum of 43-45°C is likely on Monday, but with overcast skies and rain returning, it is expected to be between 40-42°C on Tuesday and dip further to 39-41°C on Wednesday.

“Cloudiness is expected to remain on Thursday too, by which time the maximum may fall to close to 37°C,” another IMD official said. On Sunday, the minimum was 26.2°C, two notches above normal.

Meanwhile, the air quality index (AQI) was 222 (“poor”) on Sunday – a marginal improvement from a reading of 243 (also “poor”) on Saturday.