44.7°C marks hottest day in Gurugram this year

The city on Wednesday reeled under severe heat for a second consecutive day, recording a maximum temperature of 44.7 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature recorded this year, according to officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Officials said that this was also the highest temperature recorded in entire northwest India on Wednesday

The city on Wednesday reeled under severe heat for a second consecutive day, recording a maximum temperature of 44.7 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature recorded this year, according to officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Officials said that this was also the highest temperature recorded in entire northwest India on Wednesday.

Children cool off in a pond formed from a water pipe leakage near NH-48 at MDI Chowk. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

IMD officials said that is currently reeling under a severe heatwave. A severe heatwave is declared when there is an increase of at least 6.5 degrees Celsius from the normal temperature. On Wednesday, the maximum temperature was 7.3 degrees Celsius more than the normal temperature, said officials.

“On April 28 this year, Gurugram recorded a maximum temperature of 44.3 degrees Celsius, but at 44.7 degrees Celsius, the city has recorded its highest temperature for this year,” said an official from the Meteorological Centre at Chandigarh.

The city recorded a minimum temperature of 28.4 degrees Celsius, which was two degrees above the normal temperature.

On Tuesday, Gurugram recorded a maximum temperature of 44 degrees, which was six degrees above normal. On Monday, Delhi-NCR witnessed the first heatwave recording of the season, as such high temperatures are generally not seen at this time of the year, said an IMD official.

According to the weekly forecast of the IMD, one or two spells of rain or thundershowers are likely over the weekend on July 2-3, and temperatures might reduce a bit.

“Heatwave conditions are likely to prevail even on Thursday, after which some respite is likely as rain is predicted on July 2-3. Maximum temperatures are likely to come down by four degrees, but there might not be much difference in the minimum temperature,” said the IMD official cited above.

Despite a rain prediction, according to the IMD’s weekly forecast, the maximum temperature may remain around 39 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature may remain around 29 degrees Celsius over the next three days. On Thursday, the maximum temperature is likely to be around 43 degrees Celsius, as per the weekly forecast.