The peak of summer has descended upon Delhi. Hot and dry northwesterly winds are raising the mercury a notch higher every day. Both Safdarjung and Palam observatories recorded season’s highest maximum on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Safdarjung Observatory surpassed the previous highest and recorded 42.7°C. Palam also sizzled at 44.1°C.
It is nothing unusual for Delhi to record such high temperatures in the month of May. However, generally temperatures start rising only after the second week or towards the fag end of the month.
Here is the last 5 years' maximum temperatures in Safdarjung and Palam:
In the table above, we can see that temperatures started rising only after the second half of the month. However in 2013, maximum settled at 42.8°C on the first day of May itself.
According to meteorologists at Skymet, these temperatures are going to sustain for another 24 to 48 hours. A fresh Western Disturbance and a cyclonic circulation will start affecting Jammu and Kashmir by weekend i.e. May 9 and we could expect some rain in the plains on May 10 -11. As a precursor to this weather activity, winds will change and some thunderstorm could occur on Saturday.
The weather systems will also bring rain in Punjab, Haryana, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh. This spell is not expected to provide any major relief to the people as the day temperatures will drop only marginally.
Image credit- Manpreet Roman
