Delhi sizzles at 42.5 degree Celsius, records season's hottest day after 3-week cool spell

NEW DELHI: After over three weeks of freakishly mild weather in the middle of summer, temperatures at the capital's base station, Safdarjung, crossed 40 degrees Celsius on Friday for the time in May. At 42.5 degrees Celsius, the maximum was three notches above normal, making it the hottest day of the season so far.
This was the first day since April 19 last month when the maximum temperature crossed the normal mark. Also, temperatures have remained under 40 degrees C in the first 11 days of the month, longest spell of below 40-degree conditions during May in readily available records dating back to 2011.

During the 22-day spell of below-normal maximum temperatures in the capital - which ended on Friday with the mercury shooting up to 42.5 degrees C - the maximum temperature had dropped to as low as 26.1 degrees C on May 1, which was the second-coolest May day since 2010. The period also saw over 51mm of rain spread over eight days, triggered by three back-to-back western disturbances, which kept temperatures much below normal.
Before Friday, the highest maximum temperature of the year was reported on April 17 at 40.6 degrees Celsius.
The rainy days, cloudiness and winds in the beginning of the month had made May unusually mild. By contrast, the first 12 days of May last year had seen temperatures cross the 40-degree mark on six days.
The day temperature is likely to rise further to 43 degrees Celsius on Saturday and isolated places may witness a heatwave. Though there is a possibility of a dust or thunderstorm on Saturday evening or night, relief is unlikely from soaring mercury levels for the next few days. The met department has placed a 'yellow' alert for Saturday in the capital for high heat.
"Warm air from northwest India which is recording high temperatures, clear skies, light wind, lack of cloudiness and less moisture led to a rise in maximum temperature. Due to clear skies, a sufficient amount of solar energy was released," said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist and head, Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, IMD, said.
Najafgarh was the hottest station on Friday at 44.1 degrees Celsius while Pusa reported 43.9 degrees C, and Sports Complex near Akshardham and Pitampura both recorded 43.7 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature on Friday settled at 19.3 degrees Celsius, still six degrees below normal. The relative humidity oscillated from 18% and 77%.
IMD said strong surface winds at speeds of 30-40 kmph may blow from Sunday to Tuesday during daytime, but there are chances of very light rain or thundershowers at one or two places on Tuesday as well.
Delhi's air quality, meanwhile, remained in 'poor' category with an AQI of 227 on Friday. It may deteriorate to "very poor" category on Saturday, according to Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.