Heatwave warning in Delhi: IMD issues yellow alert amid rising temperatures

NEW DELHI: The minimum temperature in the city recorded a slight rise on Saturday, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for the day, warning of possible heatwave conditions in isolated areas.Safdarjung, which represents Delhi’s official weather data, recorded a minimum temperature of 25.2°C, which is 2.5 degrees above normal and 0.7 degrees higher than the previous day.Other weather stations also recorded a slight rise in minimum temperatures on Saturday. This comes a day after isolated parts of the city experienced the season’s first heatwave conditions. Palam recorded a minimum of 26.8 degrees Celsius, a 1.2 degree change from Friday; Lodhi Road recorded a minimum of 24 degrees, 1.4 degrees more than a day before; and Ayanagar recorded 25.1 degrees Celsius as the minimum, a 1.7 degree increase. "There might be heatwave conditions in isolated parts of the city. Sustained surface winds of speed 15-25 kmph might be observed during the day," an IMD official said.The weather department has forecast the maximum temperature to hover around 40–42°C on Saturday.The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi stood at 243 (poor) at 9 am, compared to the 24-hour average of 226 (poor) recorded at 4 pm on Friday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).As per CPCB standards, an AQI of 0–50 is considered ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’, and 401–500 ‘severe’.The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) has forecast that Delhi’s air quality is likely to remain in the ‘poor’ category over the weekend before improving to ‘moderate’ levels in the following days.(With agency inputs)