The Meteorological Department has issued a severe heat wave warning for north and central India, including New Delhi, adding that the conditions are likely to persist till May 21.
The mercury is expected to gradually come down and abate after May 27, the weatherman said. The maximum temperature was recorded at 43.7 degrees Celsius — a little below the hottest day of the season, which was 44 degrees on May 2.
Meanwhile, the demand for power at 5,733 MW touched this year’s highest on Wednesday. The Capital has been dealing with above average temperatures for over a week with dust storms in the evening.
The weather stations at Palam, Lodhi Road and Gurgaon recorded temperatures of 46.4, 44.0 and 45.5 degrees respectively. Thursday has in store clear skies with dust haze likely to occur in the morning and evening. The maximum and minimum are likely to settle at 44 degrees and 28 Celsius respectively.
The Indira Gandhi International Airport saw some bigger aircraft, especially those with cargo, gettting delayed as high temperature does not provide the planes with the desired lift, said an official at Palam station.
This is for the fourth time in the last 31 years, since 1985, that such high temperatures have been experienced at IGIA. In the past, such high temperatures were recorded between May 28 and 31, 1988; May 23 to 29, 1998; and May 22 to 25, 2013.
The highest temperature the city has been witness to was 47.2 degrees on May 29, 1944. At Palam, the highest record temperature is 48.4 degrees on May 26, 1998.
