The maximum temperature recorded in the national capital on Sunday reached whopping 49 degree Celsius, said the India Meteorological Department.
While the national capital’s Mungeshpur station recorded a temperature of 49.2 degrees, Najafgarh recorded 49.1 degree Celsius. The weather agency advised people in Northern India to avoid venturing outside their homes unless absolutely essential and to drink plenty of water even if not thirsty.
Weather station at Safdarjung observed a max temperature of 45.6 degrees Celsius while the west part of Delhi reported temperatures ranging between 46 to 48 degrees Celsius. Maximum temperatures reached 47.5 degrees Celsius at Jafarpur, 47.3 degrees Celsius at Pitampura and 47.2 degrees Celsius at Ridge. Other parts of Delhi observed maximum temperatures rise to 46.8 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar, 46.4 degrees Celsius at Palam and 45.8 degrees Celsius at Lodhi Road, the weather agency said.
In Haryana, Gurgaon recorded the highest temperature today amongst other stations which are 48.1 degrees Celsius and Mukhtsar in Punjab reported 47.4 degrees Celsius.
Issuing a warning of a severe heatwave, the IMD on Sunday issued an orange alert for North-West India, including Red alert for Rajasthan.
“We have issued Red Alert for Rajasthan for an intense spell of the heatwave, and a Yellow alert for tomorrow. Similarly, we have issued an Orange alert for Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, eastern Madhya Pradesh and Delhi,” said IMD scientist Naresh Kumar. He further said, “Yesterday, 48.8-degree Celcius temperature was reported from parts of the eastern Uttar Pradesh and Delhi also crossed 47 degrees Celsius. If you talk about Rajasthan, it also crossed 48 degrees.”
“Talking in general, most parts of Northwest India, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have experienced heatwave to severe heatwave conditions yesterday. Vidarbha also experienced the heatwave conditions,” he added.
Regarding the weather, he predicted the approaching western disturbance is likely to affect Northwest India. “The clouds are observed at some parts of Jammu and Kashmir from today, itself. So, we can expect a significant decrease in the temperatures after 24 hours, which will eventually decrease the condition of ‘severe heatwave in northwest India, specifically, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.”