Delhi heat index hits 50°C, relief likely in 2 days, says IMD

NEW DELHI: Delhi continues to stay in the grip of a relentless heatwave, which has now persisted for nine consecutive days. The heat stress persisted even during nighttime, marking the fourth day of warm night conditions, highest in at least past 12 years. Earlier in June 2018, the city had seen three consecutive warm nights.
The weather department has issued a red alert for Tuesday, indicating that the extreme weather is likely to continue.However, there is a possibility of light rain on Wednesday and Thursday, which may bring some respite.

On Monday, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung, the city's base station, was 45.2 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal. A day earlier, it was 44.9 degrees Celsius. Severe heatwaves battered some areas. The heat index or the feels-like temperature soared to 50 degrees Celsius on Monday as against 46 degrees Celsius a day earlier.
The minimum was 33 degrees Celsius on Monday, five notches above normal. A day earlier, it was 33.2 degrees Celsius. The humidity oscillated between 24% and 48%.
On Monday, at 46.9 degrees Celsius, Jafarpur was the hottest region of the city followed by 46.5 degrees Celsius at Pitampura, 46.4 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar, 46.3 degrees Celsius at Pusa and Najafgarh and 46 degrees Celsius at Palam.
The weather department has expected similar conditions to continue till Tuesday. Despite some respite on Wednesday, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung will still remain over 40 degree Celsius, said an official at India Meteorological Department.
On Tuesday, the maximum and the minimum may hover around 45 and 33 degrees Celsius, respectively. "The sky will remain clear on Tuesday. There are chances of heatwave conditions in most of the places and severe heatwave in isolated areas along with warm night conditions in many areas. There are chances of strong surface winds, occasionally gusty winds, up to 30-40kmph during daytime," said the official.
A heatwave is recorded when the maximum temperature is above 40 degrees Celsius and the departure above 4.5 notches. For the severe heatwave, either the maximum temperature must exceed 45 degrees Celsius mark or the departure is above 6.5 notches. The warm night condition is observed when the maximum temperature is above 40 degrees Celsius and the departure for minimum temperature is above 4.5 notches.
The air quality of the city remained moderate. The air quality index, on a scale of 0 to 500, was 169 as against 197 a day earlier, both moderate.