Delhi Heat Gets Worse, Temperature May Hit 45°C Soon

Delhi stayed under strong heat on Saturday as the temperature remained much higher than normal in many parts of the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said no official heatwave was marked during the day, but the heat alert for Delhi will stay active till May 28.

The weather office said the maximum temperature for Saturday may go up to 44 degrees Celsius. Many areas in the capital have already seen very high daytime heat over the last few days.

Safdarjung, the city’s main weather centre, recorded a maximum temperature of 43.3 degrees Celsius on Friday. This was around three degrees higher than normal. The minimum temperature settled at 29.3 degrees Celsius.

Ridge became the hottest part of Delhi after recording 44.4 degrees Celsius. Palam, Lodhi Road and Ayanagar also saw temperatures crossing 43 degrees Celsius.

Weather experts said hot and dry winds coming from the Thar Desert pushed the temperature higher across north India.

Mahesh Palawat from Skymet Weather said winds from Rajasthan made the air very dry, leading to a sharp rise in daytime heat. He also said the wind direction has changed slightly, which helped bring a small drop in temperature on Friday.

Light thunderstorm activity may happen in some areas due to a weather system near Pakistan and parts of Punjab and Haryana. Still, experts said people should not expect major relief from the heat soon.

Palawat warned that Delhi may soon record temperatures close to 45 degrees Celsius. He added that the hot spell may continue till the end of May.

Some relief may arrive in early June when pre-monsoon rain activity starts in north India.

Delhi’s air quality stayed in the “moderate” category on Friday evening. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed the Air Quality Index (AQI) at 183.