NEW DELHI: Overcast skies and gusty winds throughout Thursday brought the mercury down by almost seven notches in the national capital and much relief from the severe heatwave conditions being experienced until the previous day.
Delhiites woke up to a pleasant, cloudy and windy morning on Thursday as the city recorded its highest minimum temperature of the month so far at 25.8 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal, the weather office said.
Safdarjung, the base station for Delhi recorded a maximum of 35.2 degrees C, which was three notches below normal for this time of the year, said officials in the India Meteorological Department (IMD). “There will be generally cloudy sky with light rain or drizzle in Delhi on Thursday. Gusty winds with a speed of 30 to 40 kmph will sweep the region. The weather will remain pleasant throughout the day as the maximum temperature is likely to drop on Thursday,” an IMD official said.
According to officials, most weather stations across the city recorded around 35 -36 degrees C, several notches below normal. On Wednesday, many parts of Delhi had experienced heat wave conditions with the temperature settling above 43 degrees C.
“Movement of two Western Disturbances had caused isolated to scattered rainfall/thunderstorm activity over Western Himalayan Region during during April 19-20, the impact of which was seen in the northern plains on Thursday. Similar activity is likely on Friday as well,” said R K Jenamani, senior IMD scientist.
Scientists at the IMD have forecast that the relief is likely to be short-lived, maximum temperatures are likely to be above normal by 2-3°C over most parts of Western Himalayan Region and adjoining plains of northwest India from April 22-27.