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Erratic May weather packs a punch again
More in store: Weatherman says showers likely to bring down maximum temperature to 34°C today, stormy conditions till Tuesday morning
What started as the hottest day of the year ended with gusty winds accompanied by showers that brought down the temperature by around 15°C here on Saturday.
Winds blowing at 30-40 km/hr and peaking at 68 km/hr hit the city at 5pm.
Within half an hour, the mercury — which had climbed to 40.6° from Friday’s maximum temperature of 40.4°C — dropped to 34°C.
As the sun set and showers lashed the city, the mercury further dropped to 25.8°C around 8:30pm, six notches below that recorded at the same time on Friday and just 0.5 degrees higher than the minimum temperature recorded at night.
In fact, 7.8mm rain was recorded within just three hours, the highest for a day this month.
Officials at the Indian meteorological department said the rains are likely to bring down the maximum temperatures on Sunday to 34°C.
The stormy conditions are set to continue till Tuesday morning, although rains and winds will remain erratic, punctuated with calm spells.
Western disturbance
The meteorological department attributed the weather change to a new western disturbance. Western disturbance originates in the Mediterranean Sea that brings sudden rains to northwestern parts of India, as has been happening this month.
Explaining the phenomenon, the weatherman said hot temperature leads to low pressure in the northern parts of the subcontinent because of which winds blow to fill it from the West.
Since they pass over dry and arid lands, they lose all moisture and turn into dry dust storms that we usually observe during this time of the year.
Heatwave from May 17
For the weatherman to declare a heatwave in May, the temperature should rise to five degrees above normal, staying around 42-43°C. IMD officials say the sharp rise in temperature will start around May 17.
“Usually temperatures start rising rapidly around the middle of the month. This year, although a little late, heatwave is still inevitable,” said the official. This month has witnessed erratic weather since the beginning.
The gusty winds, reaching up to 75 km/hr, accompanied by 1.2mm rain, took everyone by surprise on May 2. It was followed winds at 60 km/hr on May 7. Later, May 8 and 9 recorded a total rainfall of 8.6mm.
