Heatwave strikes again, strong winds and rain from Thursday

New Delhi: The city saw another spell of heatwave as several areas saw temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.However, after this sweltering spell, the capital may get a respite from Friday onwards.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for light rain and thunderstorms on Thursday. Temperatures are expected to remain high at 43-44 degrees Celsius, offering little immediate relief. A more noticeable dip in temperature is likely on Friday, when the maximum may dip.On Wednesday, base station Safdarjung recorded 44.3 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal. The minimum was 26.2 degrees Celsius.Meanwhile, 45.6 degrees Celsius was recorded at the Kamla Nehru Ridge in north Delhi. This was the hottest area of the city, followed by Ayanagar at 45.4 degrees Celsius, Lodhi Road at 44.6 degrees Celsius. All these were heatwave areas.Delhi has seen two spells of heatwaves this summer. Parts of the city reeled under three consecutive heatwave days from April 23 to 25. However, Safdarjung saw one heatwave day on April 25 when the mercury climbed to 42.8. Some areas recorded a four-day heatwave from May 18 to 21 too. Safdarjung, though, recorded just one such day on May 19 when the mercury touched 45.1 degrees Celsius.The Met expects very strong winds gusting up to 70 kmph towards late Thursday evening. On Friday, the maximum is expected to hover around 35-37 degrees Celsius. An orange alert has been sounded for light rain and thunderstorm with winds likely to gust up to 80 kmph.“A fresh western disturbance likely to affect northwest India from May 28.. No large change in maximum temperatures during next 24 hours and fall by 6-8 degrees Celsius during subsequent three days and rise by 4-6 degrees Celsius thereafter,” IMD has said. The AQI has improved to moderate with a reading of 190, against 252 a day earlier.