‘Real feel’ hits 51°C, but Delhi gets some rain relief later

Met officials said rain was reported in parts of southwest, central, north, northeast and northwest parts of the city after 9pm

Delhi’s maximum temperature dipped on Wednesday but the weather remained hot and uncomfortable, and felt worse than a day ago, as increased humidity accompanied by loo took the “real feel” to 51 degrees Celsius (°C). Later in the night, parts of the city witnessed light to moderate showers, accompanied by gusty winds.

Women cover themselves on a hot Wednesday in Delhi. (PTI)

Met officials said rain was reported in parts of southwest, central, north, northeast and northwest parts of the city after 9pm.

Earlier in the day, Safdarjung, the base weather station, recorded a maximum temperature of 40.9°C — one degree above normal and lower than Tuesday’s 41.8°C. However, a relative humidity of 43% meant that the Heat Index (HI), or known colloquially as “real feel” temperature, stood somewhere around 51°C at 2.30pm, as calculated by HT using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calculator.

Relief is expected from Thursday onwards with light rain and drizzle likely across the city, owing to moisture intrusion from Cyclone Biparjoy, which will make landfall in Gujarat, weather officials said.

“The wind speed remained similar to Tuesday, with loo seen during the day. As the cyclone draws nearer, the moisture content is increasing and the relative humidity increased to 43% as opposed to 37% on Tuesday. From Thursday afternoon, we can expect drizzle and light rain, with the maximum to dip to around 39°C. On Friday too, some light rain is expected with the maximum to be around 38°C,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at the India Meteorological Department.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s maximum temperatures varied at other stations varied. Mayur Vihar recorded a high of 39.8 degrees Celsius, while it was logged at 43.4 degrees Celsius at east Delhi’s Sports Complex station (Akshardham) and the Najafgarh station. The minimum temperature stood at 29.7 degrees Celsius – two degrees above normal.

HI is a function of maximum temperature and humidity and is calculated in the shade to indicate what the temperature actually feels to the human body outside. The HI in comparison on Tuesday was 50 degrees Celsius, calculated using the same two parameters – relative humidity and air temperature, which IMD uses.

Srivastava said that the mercury is expected to remain below 40 degrees Celsius till June 20, with a western disturbance to also influence the region from June 18 onwards. “On June 18 and 19 too, some drizzle to light rain is expected,” he added.

The air quality on Wednesday continued to remain in the poor category owing to dust-raising winds. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 213 (poor), according to CPCB’s national bulletin at 4pm. Forecasts show AQI is likely to return to the moderate range by Thursday.

The CPCB classifies an 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.