NEW DELHI: After recording 52.9 degrees Celsius temperature a few days ago at Delhi’s Mungeshpur and 56 degrees in Maharashtra’s Nagpur, the India Meteorological Department has watered down its measurement, blaming it on malfunctioning of the sensors. Ergo, the Delhi temperature on May 29 stood corrected: 49.9 degrees Celsius.
The original reading drove the already dreary Delhiites to the brink of exasperation until IMD sent a panel to its weather station to look at its instruments’ truthfulness.
The committee found the “anomaly” as it compared the readings with other automatic weather stations (AWS) in Delhi, revealing a positive bias in the temperature readings at Mungeshpur. The AWS at Mungeshpur reported temperatures approximately 3 degrees Celsius higher than the standard instruments during peak periods. This means the peak temperature in parts of Delhi on May 29 was around 49.9 degrees Celsius.
Officials noted that these high temperatures were recorded because areas like Mungeshpur, Narela, and Najafgarh are particularly susceptible to the early arrival of hot winds from Rajasthan.
“Remedial measures are being taken up by the IMD to avoid the repetition of such errors in AWS,” the IMD said in a statement.
The Saturday weather needed any sophisticated device to measure the nature’s cool U-turn. A dust storm accompanied by gusty winds swept across the city at 3:15 pm, bringing much-needed relief.
On Friday, the maximum temperature shot up marginally, making it the sixth consecutive day when Safdarjung recorded a thermometer high above the 45-degree mark.
Cool it this week
Weather office says it won’t be hotter than 44oC till June 7
The heat wave will prevail only in isolated parts of the national Capital
Cloudy sky followed by light rain and gusty winds for June 2, while partly cloudy sky for June 3, 6 and 7, says IMD