NEW DELHI: Delhiites sweltered under a ‘warm night’ for the second consecutive day, along with a heatwave in parts of the city on Thursday, making it another stifling afternoon. However, a brief but intense spell of rain accompanied by strong winds in the evening offered much-needed respite.
The winds, gusting up to 50 kmph in parts of the city, brought the mercury down by a significant 6-10 degrees across most areas, said India Meteorological Department (IMD). The Met department predicted very light rain or drizzle on Friday and Saturday, with heatwave conditions unlikely till April 16.
Parts of Delhi reeled under heatwave conditions for the fourth consecutive day. The maximum temperature at Safdarjung, the city’s base station, reached 39.6 degrees Celsius on Thursday, five degrees above normal, down from Wednesday’s 40.5 degrees Celsius. While Safdarjung didn’t register heatwave conditions, Ayanagar (40.2 degrees Celsius) and Ridge (40.9 degrees Celsius) were under the grip of a heatwave. The heat index for Delhi was between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius.
The city saw the second consecutive warm night. The minimum temperature at Safdarjung stood at 25.9 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal. It was also 0.3 degrees higher than Wednesday’s minimum temperature, making it the highest minimum temperature in April in three years. It was last exceeded in April on April 14, 2022, at 26.2 degrees Celsius.
A warm night is declared when the maximum temperature is above 40 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature is at least 4.5 degrees above normal. The warm night conditions were met at most stations in Delhi.
“The city saw above normal temperatures in the night and during the daytime, leading to warm night and heatwave conditions. However, under the influence of a western disturbance, Delhi received very light rain in parts of the city on Thursday evening. Strong winds caused significant temperature reduction,” said a Met official.
Krishna Kumar Mishra, a scientist at IMD, said the mercury dropped at Lodhi Road from 36 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees between 5.30pm and 6.30pm post-thunderstorm. However, Mayur Vihar experienced a decline from 37 degrees Celsius to 27 degrees Celsius during the same period due to more activity over eastern Delhi, said Mishra.
According to IMD, base station Safdarjung did not record any rain between 5.30pm and 8.30pm while Mayur Vihar logged 5mm rainfall during the same period. Pitampura received 1mm rain.
“The maximum temperature is likely to fall by 3-5 degrees Celsius during the next three days and gradually rise by 2-4 degrees Celsius thereafter,” said IMD. A Met official said strong winds were likely to blow on Friday, but winds are expected to slow down from Saturday.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the poor category. The air quality index stood at 256. However, AQI is expected to improve to moderate from Friday to Sunday, thanks to the rain on Thursday.
