As mercury continued to soar, Delhi on Tuesday recorded the maximum at 45.3°C temperature, which is equal to what city had recorded 49 years before on April 25, 1970. Simultaneously, Safdarjung Observatory reported day temperature at 43.7°C, which is also highest since 2010.
“The last time the temperature shot up so high at Palam, in the month of April, was on April 25, 1970. The day time mercury hasn’t gone beyond the 45-degree mark in the last decade at least in Palam. In April 2017, it went up to 44.9 degrees Celsius,” said a senior Met official, asking not to be named. The official added that the “very severe cyclonic storm” Fani that is gathering in the Bay of Bengal and headed towards the coast of Odisha could help lower temperatures slightly.
“Some comparatively cooler easterly winds will gush into the central and northwest parts of the country and bring down the temperature by a degree or two,” the official explained but added that the maximum temperature is still unlikely to go below the 40°C mark over the next week.
However, a bit of relief is in sight. On Wednesday, partly cloudy sky with possibility of a dust storm or thunderstorm with gusty winds (speed expected to go up to 30-40 km per hour) towards afternoon or evening is expected. The maximum and minimum temperatures will be around 42 and 24 degrees Celsius respectively.
A Met official said, “Temperatures are expected to drop slightly from Wednesday and Thursday due to this thundery development,” adding that easterly winds are expected, which will create isolated clouds and slight fall in the temperature. While Palam’s 45.3 degrees was at least six degrees above normal, the temperature recorded at Safdarjung was at least five degrees above normal. At Ayanagar, the mercury touched 43.8°C.
BP Yadav, deputy director general of IMD, said, “The average monthly temperature of April 2019 was recorded to be 37.7 degrees which was at least 1.4 degrees above the mean April temperature of Delhi — 36.3 degrees.”
Delhi had an extended winter this year, but temperatures rose swiftly after Holi on March 22. He further added, “We have hardly got any rain or thunderstorm since then. Usually, rain and thunderstorms help keep the temperature under control. In the absence of such weather phenomenon, however, the mercury started rising unabated.”
