No respite from heatwave in Delhi until tomorrow: IMD

The city recorded fifth consecutive heatwave day on Monday with the Safdarjung observatory, the base station for weather, recording a maximum of 42.6 degrees Celsius

New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has revised its forecast and said the maximum temperature in Delhi on Tuesday is expected to be 41 and the minimum 23 degrees Celsius. It earlier said there could be a brief respite from the ongoing heatwave. A dip in temperature is expected from Wednesday, IMD said.

(HT PHOTO)

Delhi recorded the fifth consecutive heatwave day on Monday. The Safdarjung observatory, the city’s base station for weather, recorded a maximum of 42.6 degrees Celsius, seven degrees above normal, making it the hottest April day since 2017 when the mercury touched 43.2 on April 21.

The five heatwave days are the most for the month since 2017. The maximum temperatures were higher than what is classified as a heatwave in April 2017 for six days. With close to three weeks to go, this record is likely to be broken, especially with IMD forecasting a short-lived, mild window of relief.

Delhi’s air quality separately was in the poor category on Tuesday. The hourly Air Quality Index (AQI) was 256 at 7 am. On Monday, the average 24-hour AQI was 258 in the moderate category.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.