4-day heatwave alert: Temp may touch 45°

TYPICALLY, THE MET DECLARES A HEATWAVE WHEN THE DAY TEMPERATURE SHOOTS UP BY AT LEAST FIVE DEGREES ABOVE THE CLIMATIC NORMAL

NEWDELHI: Heat waves developed across northwest and central India on Wednesday with extreme heat wave alerts being issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for west Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh, as India continues to reel under the impact of extreme weather events.

Heat wave conditions were also experienced in Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha in Maharashtra, East Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

Palam experienced the first heat wave of the season on Wednesday as the mercury level touched 45.2 degrees Celsius. The rest of Delhi reeled under nearheat wave conditions, missing the benchmark by just one degree.

IMD has issued a warning of heat wave in Delhi over the next four days as well and temperatures could soar to 45 degrees Celsius by Sunday, the regional weather forecasting centre has warned.

“Hot winds from the west, a clear sky and scarcity of moisture in the air are helping the mercury shoot up. It could touch 45 degrees by the weekend,” said a scientist with the regional weather forecasting centre in New Delhi.

The heat wave conditions are likely to persist in northwest and central India till Sunday, according to an IMD forecast.

Typically, the met department declares a heat wave when the day temperature shoots up by at least 5 degrees above the climatic normal.

According to Imd,the temperature then tends to breach 40 degrees Centigrade in the plains and 30 degrees C in the hills.

However, if temperatures breach the 45 degrees C mark in the plains it also qualifies as a heat wave.