Delhi under severe heatwave conditions after hottest March on record, India
Parts of New Delhi, the national capital of India, are under heatwave conditions since last week with maximum temperatures above 40 °C (104 °F). On Friday, April 8, temperatures in Delhi surpassed a ‘severe heatwave’ threshold – declared if the departure from normal temperature is more than 6.4 °C (11.5 °F).
On Friday, April 8, 2022, the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a maximum temperature of 41.6 °C (106.9 °F), marking the city’s hottest day of the year.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a prolonged dry spell has led the severe hot weather conditions in northern India and such conditions are expected to continue at least until April 15.
“The frequency of intense heatwave conditions will be higher in April as compared to March. We expect the heatwave conditions to continue till April 15 in some parts,” an IMD official said.
Mahesh Palawat, Vice-President (Meteorology And Climate Change), Skymet Weather, said it is an aberration that the maximum temperature has breached the 45 °C (113 °F) in parts of northwest India in the first 10 days of April.
There has been nil pre-monsoon activity, including dust storms and thundershowers, in the region so far. Long-range models have also not predicted any significant weather system in the next 15 days, he said.
This year, India recorded its warmest March in 122 years with a severe heatwave scorching large swathes of the country during the month.
IMD attributed the heat to the lack of rainfall due to the absence of active western disturbances over north India and any major system over south India.
The country as a whole recorded 8.9 mm of rainfall in March, which was 71% less than its long period average rainfall of 30.4 mm (1.19 inches). It was also the third-lowest precipitation in March since 1901 after 7.2 mm (0.28 inches) in 1909 and 8.7 mm (0.34 inches) in 1908.
Reference:
At 41.6 deg C, Delhi sizzles in severe heatwave, records hottest day of year so far – BusinessToday.In
Featured image: Surface temperatures at 10:00 UTC on April 9, 2022. Credit: EarthNulschool
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