Delhi witnessed a marginal dip in daytime temperature on Friday, with the city’s base station at Safdarjung recording a maximum temperature of 43.3 degrees Celsius, 0.3 notches below normal and slightly lower than Thursday’s reading. However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) retained its orange alert for heatwave conditions in the national capital for the next seven days.
According to the IMD data, the minimum temperature in the city settled at 29.3 degrees Celsius. Other parts of Delhi continued to reel under intense heat, with Ridge recording 44.4 degrees Celsius, Ayanagar 43.5 degrees Celsius, Lodhi Road 43.4 degrees Celsius and Palam 43.2 degrees Celsius.
The weather department said heatwave conditions were very likely to continue over the next six days. Maximum temperature is expected to dip by around 1 degree Celsius on May 23 before rising again thereafter, while minimum temperatures are likely to increase by around 3 degrees Celsius by May 25.
The IMD has forecast maximum temperature between 43 and 46 degrees Celsius over the coming week, with heatwave conditions likely at a few places across Delhi. Saturday may witness partly cloudy skies with chances of thunder development during the morning, afternoon or evening, while mainly clear skies are expected from May 24 onwards.
Strong surface winds reaching 20-30 kmph, gusting up to 40 kmph during the day, are also likely over the next several days.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s power demand on Friday was slightly lower than Thursday, touching 8,154 MW amid continued high electricity usage due to the heat.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city at 4 pm stood at 183, which is considered ‘moderate’, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
