Relief From Heatwave Soon, Cloudy Skies, Rain Forecast For Delhi

A day after a sweltering heatwave led to Delhi recording a maximum temperature of over 50 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department said weather conditions will likely improve from Thursday. 

Severe heatwave conditions prevailing over Northwest and Central India are likely to reduce gradually from May 30, the weather office said, adding that the city will witness cloudy skies from tomorrow accompanied by light rain and gusty winds.

"Delhi will witness partly cloudy sky and heatwave conditions with the possibility of thunderstorm/duststorm with very light rain/drizzle accompanied by gusty winds," the IMD said in its forecast for Thursday.

Over the next six days, the weather office has predicted thunderstorms and dust storms over the city along with rain and strong winds till June 4.

The maximum temperature for Thursday is expected to rise to 45 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature will settle at 30 degrees Celsius.

"With easterly winds, the heat index was over 50 degrees even though the recorded temperature was much lower. But now as westerly winds approach the region, the humidity has gone down and the heat index has also reduced. This will lower the "feels-like" temperature and bring relief to residents," Mahesh Palawat, Vice President at Skymet Weather told NDTV.

The heat index, often referred to as the "feels-like" temperature, combines air temperature and relative humidity to estimate the human-perceived temperature.

On Wednesday, hours after Delhi's temperature broke all weather records, parts of Delhi-NCR witnessed a sudden change of weather as some areas received light showers.

The IMD later clarified that the maximum temperature of over 52 degrees Celsius recorded in Delhi on Wednesday was an "error in sensor or local factor."  

"The maximum temperature over Delhi NCR varied from 45.2 degrees Celsius to 49.1 degrees Celsius in different parts of city, Mungeshpur reported 52.9 degrees Celsius as an outlier compared to other stations. It could be due to an error in the sensor or a local factor. IMD is examining the data and sensors," it said.

The IMD predicted warm night conditions are very likely to prevail over Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on May 30.

The IMD said that a rise in maximum temperatures by 2-3 degrees Celsius is very likely over East India during the next three days and gradually fall by 3-4 degrees Celsius thereafter. It added that no significant change in maximum temperatures is likely over the remaining parts of the country.