Short rain relief fades, temp in Delhi nears 40 degrees mark

It was another humid day for Delhi on Thursday, with the cooler days giving way and the temperature continuing to climb back towards the 40 degrees Celsius mark, a level it’s likely to touch by Saturday, the Indian weather office predicted

It was another humid day for Delhi on Thursday, with the cooler days giving way and the temperature continuing to climb back towards the 40 degrees Celsius mark, a level it’s likely to touch by Saturday, the Indian weather office predicted.

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At Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, the maximum temperature on Thursday climbed to 37.9°C, a degree below normal and 0.7 degrees more than Wednesday. But the relative humidity, which swung between 41% and 83% on the day, worsened the discomfort.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts this rise in temperature to continue over the next two days, with the maximum expected to touch the 40-degree mark at Safdarjung by Saturday, it says.

Delhi has seen a gradual rise in mercury over the last few days, with warm westerly winds returning to the Capital. Delhi’s maximum was 34.5°C on Tuesday and 32.8°C on Monday.

Earlier this month, the temperature dropped to 30.7°C on June 19 — eight degrees below normal and the lowest for the month 2013, when it dropped to 30°C.

RK Jenamani, scientist at IMD said the temperature and humidity will remain high until June 25, with chances of thundery development on June 26.

The city is, meanwhile, unlikely to get any rain till June 27.

“This dry spell will once again push the maximum temperature back to around 40°C at Safdarjung and around 42°C in other parts. The high humidity will also add to the discomfort, but the maximum could drop to around 36 degrees by June 28, following a spell of rain the day before that.

The IMD currently forecasts a drizzle on June 27 and light showers on June 28, stating there was a possibility of some rain activity on June 29 as well. A combination of both high humidity and high temperature during this time of the year reflects in the ‘wet bulb’ temperature, which can show how uncomfortable it is to be outside and whether or not the body can sweat out in the high humidity or not. If the wet bulb temperature is over 29.0 degrees, it indicates there can be considerable discomfort in being outside. Delhi’s wet bulb temperature on Thursday was 28.4.

Najafgarh was Delhi’s hottest location on Thursday, and was the only station where the mercury touched the 40°C-mark. Delhi’s minimum temperature was meanwhile recorded at 25.3 degrees Celsius, one degree higher than Wednesday, but still three degrees lower than normal for this time of the year.

Forecast for Friday shows Delhi is likely to record a high of 39°C, while the minimum will remain around 25°C.