NEW DELHI: Delhi continued to reel under heat wave conditions for the fifth consecutive day on Monday --- making it the most prolonged heat spell in the month of April in five years, according to records shared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The previous longest spell was reported six years ago.
On Monday, Safdarjung, the base station for Delhi, recorded a maximum temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius, seven notches above normal for this time of the year. East Delhi’s Yamuna Sports Complex continued to be the hottest spot in the city for the second consecutive day, with the mercury settling at 44.1 degrees Celsius, ten notches above normal.
Senior IMD scientist R K Jenamani said a looked at the data for the month of April and corresponding maximum temperature observations for the past 12 years (2011-2022) showed that April 2017 saw six straight heat wave days and was the longest heat wave spell while April this year till date has seen five consecutive heat wave days, making it the second-longest heat wave spell.
“With the projections of heat wave conditions likely to continue over the northwest region, this April could break the record of the longest heat wave spell in the last 12 years. There could be slight relief from the scorching heat over the next two days owing to strong surface winds and some rainfall activity in the hills. But day temperature is still likely to remain above normal,” said Jenamani.
The scientist said that on Monday, heat wave conditions were also observed in many parts of Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, and in isolated pockets in Rajasthan.