Delhi weather: No heatwave day in April yet, cheer won't last long

NEW DELHI: The city has not recorded a single heatwave day so far in April, but meteorology officials said the period between April 16 and May 31 is prone to heatwave conditions. The India Meteorological Department has forecast a day temperature of 40 degrees Celsius on April 16.

Safdarjung, which is the city's base weather station, recorded 13 heatwave days between March and May in 2022, the highest in the past 11 years. In the same period, some parts of Delhi suffered 33 heatwave days, including Mungeshpur, Pitampura, Najafgarh and the Commonwealth Games Village. Some of these areas are hotter than others due to inadequate green cover, urbanisation, cluster of concrete structures, increase in greenhouse gases and emissions from vehicles and domestic appliances.
IMD defines a heatwave day as one when the maximum temperature is at least 40 degrees Celsius and 4.5 degrees or more above normal. A heatwave day is also one when the maximum temperature touches 45 degrees Celsius or above. A 'severe' heatwave is declared when the maximum is 6.5 degrees or more above normal.
Though heatwave conditions have not been recorded so far, the city may be gripped by a heatwave later this month. "Most heatwave days occur between April 16 and May 31," said a Met official. "The maximum temperature at Safdarjung is expected to touch 40 degrees Celsius on April 16, which is around three notches below normal. Some stations may report a higher temperature. Though there is no forecast of heatwave conditions for Delhi-NCR as yet, later in the month they could impact the city."
In April last year, Safdarjung recorded nine heatwave days, the streak beginning in the second week of the month. "Delhi has experienced three rainy days in April so far. Rain, strong winds and cloudy skies did not allow the maximum temperature to rise much," said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, IMD. "The maximum temperature has so far stayed below 40 degrees Celsius, but last year it crossed the 40 degrees mark in the second week of April."
IMD's data shows that no heatwave was recorded at Safdarjung in April from 2018 to 2021. April 2017 had four such days while the previous year had seen only one heatwave day. No heatwave day was recorded at Safdarjung in April between 2011 and 2015.