Doesn’t feel like May in Delhi: Rain ensures no heatwave so far
THIS MAY, DELHI RECORDED THE LOWEST MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES FOR THE MONTH IN AT LEAST THE LAST 70 YEARS
NEW DELHI: Last year, this week, Delhi was facing a severe heat wave with the maximum temperature hovering between 43 and 46 degrees Celsius. This year, the month of May has so far been kind to the city residents thanks to the cyclonic storm Tauktae and multiple episodes of western disturbance that brought moderate to heavy rain to the Capital.
This May, Delhi recorded the lowest maximum temperatures for the month in at least the last 70 years, with the mercury on May 19 dropping to 23.8 degrees Celsius. This was 16 degrees below what is considered normal for this time of the year. This also broke the previous record of 24.8 degrees Celsius, which was recorded on May 13, 1982.
Last year, Delhi experienced a severe heat wave spell from May 22 to May 29, with the mercury levels breaching the 47 degrees Celsius mark in some parts.
IMD records show that this month, the highest maximum temperature was recorded on May 1, when the mercury touched 41.5 degrees Celsius. The forecast by IMD shows that temperature is expected to rise in the coming days and by May 27, it is likely to touch 39 degrees Celsius.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientists said unlike the last few years, Delhi has not recorded any heat wave days this May. This month, the Capital also witnessed five western disturbances already, as against the usual two to three, Met officials said.
Meteorologists declare a heat wave when the maximum temperature for a location in the plains crosses 40 degrees Celsius. In the hills, the threshold temperature is 30 degrees Celsius. When departure in the day temperature is 4.5 degrees to 6.5 degrees above the normal maximum temperature of a location, it is declared as a heat wave.
“This time we have not recorded any heat wave in the national capital, and the temperatures are lower than normal. The primary reason behind the lower than usual temperatures is the higher count of western disturbance in the entire northern India region. The exact picture of whether this has broken any past record will have to be analysed once we calculate the mean maximum temperature in the end of the month,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre.
Srivastava said that May of 2014 and 2011 also did not record any heat wave days.
Even after cyclonic storm Tauktae-induced rainfall, Delhi has received fresh western disturbance, which has resulted in episodes of early morning showers, which kept the temperatures from rising. On Saturday, the maximum temperature was 35.1 degrees Celsius, five degrees below normal, while the minimum temperature was 18.3 degrees Celsius, nine degrees below normal.
“We are not expecting heat wave conditions to set now in the coming days, even though there is a possibility of maximum temperatures rising. It has rained almost continuously in many parts of the country in April. The entire north India has been experiencing cloudy skies and strong winds, which also has not allowed the maximum temperatures to rise,” said RK Jenamani, senior scientist, national weather forecasting centre.
Delhi and NCR received moderate rainfall throughout Wednesday, which resulted in a drop of 16 degrees Celsius (°C), IMD said. IMD recordings showed that till 8.30pm on Wednesday, Delhi’s Safdarjung observatory had recorded 60mm rainfall.
IMD officials said that till now, the all-time record of rainfall for May for Safdarjung is 60.0 mm, recorded on May 24, 1976, and since the rain continued through the night in most parts of the city, this record has been broken.