Season’s hottest day in Delhi, mercury shoots up to 42.8 degrees Celsius

The maximum temperature in the national capital shot up to 42.8 degrees Celsius on Friday, making it the hottest day of the season so far, but the mercury could drop if the thunderstorms that the weather office has predicted for Sunday materialize.

Friday’s maximum was the highest since the city recorded 42 degrees Celsius on April 26.

“It was three degrees above normal (on Friday). The night temperature was 24.2 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal,” said a senior official at the regional meteorological centre in New Delhi.

The official, who didn’t want to be named, said the day temperature would hover between 42 degrees and 43 degrees Celsius on Saturday. But the intense heat is likely to create conditions favourable for thunderstorms on Sunday, which will bring down the temperature the following day.

According to weather experts, the heat over northwest India and an approaching western disturbance would make way for thunderstorms.

“We are expecting another western disturbance, while easterly winds that bring moisture are likely to gain momentum. The intense heat, the western disturbance and moisture-laden winds are expected to trigger thunderstorms and light rain in Delhi and NCR (national capital region) on Sunday,” the official said.

Weekend rain could bring down the temperature by around 5 degrees Celsius on Monday.

The Celsius climbed to 43.2 degrees at the Aya Nagar observatory of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and 42.9 at Palam on Friday, but the figure at Safdarjung is counted as representative of the city’s weather. Safdarjung recorded a maximum of 42.8 degrees Celsius.

“The moisture content in the air has almost become nil after a western disturbance passed through Delhi on May 7 and there was some rain in the national capital region and Delhi on May 8. In the absence of moisture, the hot westerly winds and a clear sky are helping the mercury to shoot up,” an IMD official said, requesting anonymity.

Compared to previous years, this May has been bearable so far. The mercury touched 44.4 degrees Celsius on May 16 last year. It was 45.7 degrees Celsius on May 24, 2013 — the highest this decade for the month of May.

But the record dates back to May 29, 1944, when the temperature shot up to 47.2 degrees Celsius in the city — sweltering under the heat of the freedom struggle and a ruthless sun.