Mercury to touch 40°C in Delhi by weekend, says IMD

Chances of another heat wave are remote, IMD said.

Rain and thundershower hit the national capital in the early hours of Tuesday, bringing down the night temperature by nearly seven degrees Celsius below normal. The maximum temperature, which had dropped to 33.6 degrees Celsius Monday, however, shot up to 35 degrees Celsius after the sky cleared up partially during the day.

Rain and thundershower hit the national capital in the early hours of Tuesday, bringing down the night temperature by nearly seven degrees Celsius below normal. (Ragul Krishnan/ HT PHOTO)

The India Meteorological Department has forecast that the day temperature may rise further from Wednesday and could even touch 40 degrees by the weekend. But chances of another heat wave are remote, it said.

The IMD’s Safdarjung observatory recorded 10.6 mm rain in the early hours of Tuesday (till 8.30am). Thereafter some parts of Delhi received traces of rain during the day. Ridge was the wettest place in the national capital and received around 26.8 mm rain.

The overnight rain helped bring down the night temperature to around 20.6 degrees Celsius, which was at least seven degrees below normal.

“On Wednesday, the sky is expected to remain partly cloudy and there are chances of a drizzle in some parts. The effects of the western disturbance in north India and cyclone Vayu in the Arabian Sea are fading. But another western disturbance is approaching, which could trigger another spell of rain over the weekend or early next week,” said an IMD official.