At 48.1 degree Celsius, Gurugram sees hottest May day in 56 years

GURUGRAM: Heatwave conditions continued to prevail in the city on Sunday as mercury shot up to 48.1 degrees Celsius, the highest daytime temperature for May in over 56 years.
At 48.1 degrees Celsius, it was nine notches above the season’s normal. In recent times before this year, the city saw the highest temperature at 47.2 degrees Celsius on May 28, 1998. But going back in weather records, according to IMD, the city’s all-time highest temperature for the month was recorded on May 10, 1966, at 49 degrees Celsius. Sunday’s day temperature fell just short of 0.9 from it, an IMD official said.
This year, the city has been experiencing unprecedented heat since March. With extreme weather conditions wreaking havoc, public places wore a deserted look as residents are forced to stay indoors.
“The maximum temperature was 6 degrees above the normal across the state, while the highest temperature in Haryana was recorded in Gurugram at 48.1 degrees Celsius on Sunday. This summer, we have witnessed a rising trend in temperature since March due to prolonged dry spell coupled with warm winds from Rajasthan and lack of western disturbance. Though some rainfall activities due to western disturbance and prevailing easterlies winds helped in keeping the temperature in check in early days of May, the temperature has been rising after that,” said Manmohan Singh, director of IMD Chandigarh.
However, some reprieve is in store from Monday as the weatherman predicted thunderstorms and dust storms accompanied by gusty winds due to fresh western disturbance in the western Himalayan region. “Thunderstorm and dust storms are expected at isolated places with a possibility of light rain in north Haryana over the next two days. While the chances of rain are less in the city, cloudy conditions with a possibility of thunder will bring down the temperature by a few notches,” Singh added.
On Sunday, the minimum temperature settled at 25.2 degrees Celsius-two notches above the normal. The relative humidity index oscillated between 29% and 41% throughout the day. The minimum and maximum temperature is expected to hover around 28 and 45 degrees Celsius, respectively, on Monday.
However, the city’s air quality improved to ‘moderate’ category with an overall reading of 199 as compared to 235 on Sunday.
Meanwhile in Delhi, the weather department said that there are chances of some respite from the heat on Monday, due to the possibility of thunderstorms or gusty winds.
On the extreme temperatures recorded at Mungeshpur and Najafgarh, met officials said automatic weather stations sometimes tend to record higher temperatures than manual stations, which are set up with more care to avoid the influence of very local heat sources. However, western parts of Delhi were hotter than other spots in the city, officials said.
“At the stations located to the west of Mungeshpur and Najafgarh, we had similar a heatwave maximum temperature pattern, so there stations were affected by winds from the west while probably also being influenced by respective components of urban location,” said R K Jenamani, senior scientist, IMD.
As per IMD records, the highest maximum temperature ever recorded at Safdarjung was 47.2 degrees Celsius on May 29, 1944. The highest at Palam was 48.4 degrees Celsius on May 26, 1998.
Meanwhile, the city’s base station Safdarjung reported a high of 45.6 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal, and the highest this year, with the maximum rising 1.4 degrees over Saturday’s high of 44.2 degrees C. The minimum temperature on Sunday was recorded at 25 degrees Celsius, the season’s average, against 26.5 degrees Celsius a day earlier.
The humidity at Safdarjung oscillated between 56% and 13% on Sunday. The maximum and minimum temperature on Monday is likely to hover around 41 and 28 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, Palam recorded 46.4 degrees C, Gurgaon 48.1 degrees and Sports Complex (Commonwealth Games Village) 48.4 degrees – all highest of the season.
“Delhi has never recorded temperatures as high 49 degrees, as on Sunday,” said Mahesh Palawat of Skymet. “For past two days, the city had been receiving dry northwesterly and westerly winds, so the temperature soared. On Sunday, some clouds appeared and on Monday there is a possibility of dust storm or thunderstorm along with cloud cover that will subside the heatwaves for next two days on May 16 and 17.”
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