Light rains by mid-week to bring respite to Delhiites

Cloudy skies and light rainfall is likely to bring down the mercury

Parts of Delhi reeled under a heat wave on Monday with the maximum temperature settling at 43.7 degrees Celsius. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

Delhiites are expected to get a respite from the scorching heat with light rain predicted for every day this week, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Parts of Delhi reeled under a heat wave on Monday with the maximum temperature settling at 43.7 degrees Celsius — four notches above the normal for this time of the year. But the mercury is likely to gradually drop over the week and reach 36 degrees Celsius by Sunday.  

Though partly cloudy skies and the possibility of very light rain are predicted for Tuesday, the maximum temperature will still hover around 43 degrees Celsius. City dwellers are likely to experience cloudy skies and light rainfall from Thursday to Sunday.  

The maximum temperatures are expected to be 41, 40, and 39 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday respectively. 

On Monday, the Safdarjung observatory — Delhi’s base weather station — recorded a high of 43.7 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature of 46.6 degrees Celsius was reported at Najafgarh. 

For the plains, a ‘heatwave’ is declared when the maximum temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius and at least 4.5 notches above the season’s normal. A ‘severe heatwave’ is declared if the departure from normal temperature is more than 6.4 notches, according to the IMD.