Slight relief from heatwave conditions likely over weekend
Highlights
- The maximum temperature in Delhi may drop to 40-41 degrees Celsius by Friday
- Monsoon is expected to cover eastern India by June 15
- A clear picture on the arrival of monsoon will emerge in a week or so, the IMD said
Delhi weather update: Delhi is likely to witness a dip in the maximum temperature on Wednesday, the weather department has said, adding, isolated areas may record a heatwave. At the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's base station, the maximum temperature is expected to settle at 43 degrees Celsius.
A fresh western disturbance is likely to bring some relief to the national capital over the weekend, weather experts said.
Parts of Delhi had reeled under a sweltering heatwave for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday. Five out of 11 weather stations in Delhi recorded a heatwave on Tuesday.
Weather experts have attributed the heatwave spell to the lack of strong western disturbances and incessant hot and dry westerly winds.
Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (climate change and meteorology), Skymet Weather, said a fresh western disturbance may induce a cyclonic circulation over Punjab and Haryana which would lead to intermittent pre-monsoon activity in Haryana, Punjab, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh from June 10.
The maximum temperature in the capital may drop to 40-41 degrees Celsius by Friday.
With the monsoon expected to cover eastern India by June 15, easterly winds will bring in moisture and intensify pre-monsoon activity in northwest India.
Plawat said the monsoon is likely to arrive in Delhi around the normal date of June 27-28, and there is no system in sight that could stall its progress.
A clear picture will emerge in a week or so, he said.
Last year, the IMD had forecast that the monsoon would hit Delhi nearly two weeks before its usual date. However, it had reached the capital only on July 13, making it the most delayed in 19 years.
The monsoon had entered a "break" phase and there was virtually no progress from June 20 to July 8, Palawat recalled.
A heat wave is declared when the maximum temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius and at least 4.5 notches above normal. A severe heatwave is declared if the departure from normal temperature is by more than 6.4 notches, according to the IMD.
Based on the absolute recorded temperatures, a heatwave is declared when an area logs a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius.
A severe heatwave is declared if the maximum temperature crosses the 47-degrees Celsius mark.
(With inputs from PTI)
