Temperature crosses 47 degree Celsius at some Delhi stations, heatwave to worsen tomorrow

New Delhi: The heatwave in Delhi on Saturday pushed the temperature to 47 degree Celsius in at least two stations. According to the weather office, the mercury touched 47.2 degree Celsius at Mungeshpur observatory and 47 degree Celsius at Najafgarh — this was seven notches above normal. The national capital’s base station, the Safdarjung Observatory, recorded a maximum temperature of 44.2 degree Celsius, which was five notches above normal.

Meanwhile, the weather office has predicted that the heatwave will worsen on Sunday. An orange alert has been issued. The IMD uses four colour codes for weather warnings — green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).

The maximum temperature at Sports Complex was 46.9 degree Celsius, 46.4 degree Celsius at Pitampura, 45.8 degrees Celsius at Jafarpur and 45.4 degrees Celsius at Ridge and Ayanagar.

Delhi has suffered five heatwaves so far this summer. The national capital had recorded its hottest April since 1951. Its average monthly temperature was 40.2 degree Celsius.

This was because of scanty rainfall. It had received only 0.3 mm of rainfall against a monthly average of 12.2 mm. There was no rainfall in March — normally, the city receives 15.9 mm rainfall in the month. 

A heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius and at least 4.5 notches above normal. A severe heatwave is declared if the departure from normal temperature is more than 6.4 notches. 

With inputs from PTI