Little respite in sight for Capital as temperature rises, hits 43.8°C
HT Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Capital saw no respite from the heat on Saturday with the India Meteorological Department (IMD)’S Safdarjung observatory, Delhi’s base weather station, recording a maximum temperature of 43.8 degrees Celsius (°C), higher than the previous day’s reading of 43.5°C and four degrees above the normal temperature for this time of the year. The minimum temperature was recorded at 29.7°C, two degrees above normal.
According to the weather office’s weekly forecast, the maximum temperature in the Capital is expected to hover around 43°C on Sunday while the minimum temperature may touch 30°C.
A partly cloudy sky is expected on Sunday with a possibility of thunder and lightning, the forecast said.
IMD officials have also predicted heatwave conditions in isolated parts of the Capital till Tuesday.
A heatwave is declared in the plains when the maximum temperature is over 40°C and 4.5 degrees above normal, and a severe heatwave is declared when the temperature is above 40°C and 6.5 degrees above normal.
On Saturday, the temperature rose above 45°C at multiple weather stations across the Capital, with the highest reading of 46.7°C being recorded at Mungeshpur and Sports Complex stations. Mercury readings were also high at Pitampura (46.1°C), Jafarpur (44.7°C), Ridge (44.9°C), and Najafgarh stations (46.3°C).
Meanwhile, the air quality on Saturday improved and entered the “poor” category with an air quality (AQI) reading of 256. On Friday, the AQI was 303 in the “very poor” category. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.
Air quality may improve in next few days: Safar
The air quality is likely to improve over the next few days owing to an increase in wind speed and dispersion, weather scientists said.
On Saturday, the Union ministry of earth science’s air quality monitoring centre, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), said the wind speed is likely to be around 20-30 km/ hour causing moderate dispersion of pollutants from Sunday till Tuesday.
“AQI is likely to be within ”poor” or ”lower end of very poor”. High temperatures (above 41°C) and mixing layer height ( about 3-4km) maintains strong ventilation by convection improving air quality,” the forecast said.