Facing heatwave conditions for nine consecutive days, Delhi continued to endure scorching summer on Monday with the mercury inching past the 45 degrees Celsius mark.
The night also saw no relief, marking the fourth day of warm night conditions, highest in at the last 12 years, according to a report by Times of India. The report stated that the city had witnessed three consecutive warm nights in 2018.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Tuesday, indicating that the extreme weather is likely to continue. However, according to the weather office, there might be light rain on Wednesday and Thursday.
Safdarjung, the city’s base station, recorded a temperature of 45.2 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal. According to TOI, the heat index or the feels-like temperature soared to 50 degrees Celsius on Monday as against 46 degrees Celsius a day earlier. The minimum was 33 degrees Celsius on Monday, five notches above normal. On Monday, at 46.9 degrees Celsius, Jafarpur (46.9 degrees Celsius) was the hottest region of the city followed by Pitampura (46.5 degrees Celsius).
“Despite some respite on Wednesday, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung will still remain over 40 degrees Celsius,” an official at IMD told TOI.
The maximum and the minimum may hover around 45 and 33 degrees Celsius, respectively, on Tuesday. “The sky will remain clear on Tuesday. There are chances of heatwave conditions in most of the places and severe heatwaves in isolated areas along with warm night conditions in many areas. There are chances of strong surface winds, occasionally gusty winds, up to 30-40kmph during daytime,” the official told TOI.
Heatwave conditions are also likely to prevail over most parts of Uttar Pradesh (till June 19) and over isolated parts of Himachal Pradesh and Bihar (till June 18) and decrease in intensity later this week.
What is a heatwave condition?
According to the IMD, a heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius and is at least 4.5 degrees above the normal temperature for the area.
A severe heatwave occurs when the maximum temperature exceeds 45 degrees Celsius or is 6.5 degrees or more above normal. Warm nights are defined by minimum temperatures that are 4.5 degrees or more above the norm.
According to reports, the current heatwave in the national capital is primarily driven by dry and warm westerly winds from Rajasthan and south Haryana. These winds persist throughout the night, contributing to elevated nighttime temperatures.