Severe heat wave in Delhi; Mercury reaches year’s highest level
As the monsoon continued, a scorching heat wave lashed parts of Delhi on Tuesday scorching the maximum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, considered the official marker for the city, to 43 degrees Celsius, the highest so far this year. is. According to the India Meteorological Department, this is the first heat wave in Delhi this summer.
A severe heat wave spread across Lodhi Road, Ridge and Pusa areas, where the mercury soared seven notches above the average temperature to 42.6 degrees Celsius, 43.4 degrees Celsius and 44.3 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Najafgarh (44.4°C), Pitampura (44.3°C) and Mungeshpur (44.3°C) are also in the grip of scorching heat.
For the plains, a “heat wave” is declared when the maximum temperature exceeds 40 °C and is at least 4.5 °C above normal.
According to the IMD, a “severe” heat wave is declared when the departure from normal temperature exceeds 6.5 degrees Celsius.
Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s Regional Forecasting Centre, said, “Generally, heatwave continues in the capital till June 20. This time the rise in maximum temperature can be attributed to the delay in the onset of monsoon.”
He said there has been no rain in the last three days and warm westerly winds are blowing over a large part of northwest India, which is yet to be covered by the monsoon.
Heat wave conditions are also expected in the capital on Wednesday.
According to the IMD, the southwest monsoon has reached Barmer in western Rajasthan two weeks ahead of its normal time, which is one of its last outposts, but is yet to reach the north Indian plains including Delhi.
The Northern Limit of South West Monsoon (NLM) is passing through Barmer, Bhilwara, Dholpur, Aligarh, Meerut, Ambala and Amritsar.
After arriving two days late in Kerala, the monsoon had spread across the country covering east, central and adjoining north-west India seven to 10 days before normal.
The Meteorological Department had earlier predicted that the wind system could reach Delhi by June 15, which would have been 12 days earlier.
However, westerly winds are blocking its further advance over Delhi, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana.
Normally the monsoon reaches Delhi by June 27 and covers the entire country by July 8. Last year the wind system had reached Delhi on June 25 and had covered the entire country by June 29.
However, this year, the wait is over for Delhi, Haryana, parts of western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and western Rajasthan while the mercury and humidity continue to rise, the IMD said, adding that immediate relief is unlikely.
“The prevailing meteorological conditions, large-scale atmospheric features and wind patterns forecast by dynamic models suggest further advance of Southwest Monsoon into Rajasthan, West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and remaining parts of Delhi and Punjab. No favorable conditions are likely to develop for the next six to seven days,” the IMD said.
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