According to forecasts made on Monday by the Regional Forecasting Centre of the India Meteorological Department, intermittent showers and partly overcast sky would help Delhi avoid a heatwave for the next five to six days.
The Safdarjung Observatory, the main meteorological station in Delhi, recorded a lowest temperature of 21.8 degrees Celsius on Monday. This is five degrees below average. The highest temperature is anticipated to be in the range of 35 degrees Celsius.
With a typical maximum temperature of 39.5 degrees Celsius, May has traditionally been the warmest month in Delhi. This year, however, the city has had below-average temperatures and an abundance of rain.
This season, there have been more frequent than typical western disturbances, which are weather systems that originate in the Mediterranean area and deliver unusually heavy rain to northwest India.
Data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) show that 86.7 mm of rain had already fallen at the Safdarjung Observatory in May. The national capital receives 19.7 mm of rain on average over the whole month.
This month has also seen an unusually intense fog incident in Delhi. The IMD began collecting records in 1901, thus May 4’s low temperature of 15.8 degrees Celsius made it the third-coldest May morning in history. The amount of rain the city received in April was above 20 mm, the most for the month since 2017.
Only nine days in May saw maximum temperatures in Delhi exceed 40 degrees, with a short stretch of heatwave conditions in certain areas. This season, there haven’t been any hot days recorded by the Safdarjung Observatory.
When a station’s maximum temperature hits at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees in coastal regions, and 30 degrees in hilly regions, and the deviation from normal is at least 4.5 degrees, a heat wave is declared.
The IMD predicts that on Monday and Tuesday, a new western disturbance will bring strong winds, rain, and perhaps hail to some areas. Up until June 4, the highest temperature is expected to be below 40 degrees. The meteorological service projected lower-than-average maximum temperatures and fewer hot days in northwest India in May earlier this month.
