Warmest April night in 3 years in Delhi, relief likely today

NEW DELHI: As both day and night temperatures continued to remain high on Wednesday, Delhiites reeled under both heatwave and warm night conditions. The city experienced the warmest April night in three years, with the minimum temperature rising to 25.6 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal, on Wednesday at base station Safdarjung. It was 22.4 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

However, heatwave conditions are likely to abate, with the city predicted to receive very light rain accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds on Thursday and Friday.

With the city under the grip of a heatwave for the third consecutive day, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung was 40.5 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal, on Wednesday against 41 degrees a day earlier. A heatwave was also recorded at Ayanagar (40.9), Palam (40.3) and Ridge (40.1).

"Three stations met heatwave criteria on Monday, two on Tuesday, but a heatwave was witnessed at four stations in Delhi on Wednesday. However, respite is expected from Thursday," said Krishna Kumar Mishra, a scientist at India Meteorological Department.

IMD defines a heatwave day when the maximum is at least 40 degrees Celsius and the departure from the normal temperature is 4.5 or more, or if the maximum temperature is 45 degrees Celsius or above. Though no heatwave day was seen in April 2024 and 2023, 11 such days were witnessed in 2022.

The warm night conditions also persisted in the city for the second straight day. A warm night is declared when the maximum temperature is above 40 degrees Celsius while the minimum is at least 4.5 degrees above normal. The warm night conditions were met at most stations in Delhi.

At 25.6 degrees Celsius, Safdarjung recorded the highest minimum temperature in three years in April. A higher minimum temperature was last witnessed on April 29, 2022, at 25.8 degrees Celsius. The highest minimum in April 2024 was 24 degrees Celsius on April 24 and it was 23.2 on April 23 in 2023.

IMD has issued a yellow (be aware) alert for very light rain/drizzle accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds at the speed of 30-40kmph on Thursday and Friday. "Under the influence of a western disturbance, Delhi is likely to record very light rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds," said an official. IMD has predicted that the mercury may dip to 38-40 degrees Celsius on Thursday and to 36-38 degrees on Friday and Saturday. However, the minimum temperature is likely to remain between 24 and 26 degrees Celsius on Thursday, and may dip to 18-20 degrees Celsius by Saturday.

Meanwhile, Delhi's air quality remained in the poor category for the fourth consecutive day, with an air quality index of 246. It may improve to moderate on Friday and Saturday, stated Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.


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