NEW DELHI: Blazingly sunny and bone dry, this month was the second hottest April experienced in Delhi in at least the last 72 years for which records are readily available, met department data reveals.
For only the second time since 1951, the average maximum temperature this April crossed 40 degrees Celsius. At 40.2 degrees, the average maximum this month was marginally lower than the 40.4 degrees recorded in 2010, which was the hottest April in 72 years.
The normal maximum temperature in April is 36.3 degrees C, which means that day temperatures this month were on average nearly 4 degrees higher than normal. As many as 10 heat wave days were recorded (with temperatures at least 4.5 degrees above normal), the same as in 2010, .
On Friday, while the station at the sports complex (Commonwealth Games Village) read 46.2 degrees C, neighbouring Gurgaon recorded its highest April temperature on record - 45.9 degrees C, a day after clocking 45.6. Before this, the highest in the month was 44.8 degrees on April 28, 1979.
Met dept doesn't see any heatwave relief till Mon
The mercury touched 40 degrees at Safdarjung on as many as 16 days in April as Delhi experienced its second hottest April since 1951.
For perspective, the normal average maximum in May - the hottest month of the year in Delhi-NCR - is below 40 degrees at 39.5.
Temperature records show April has been getting hotter over the past 20 years or so. At Safdarjung, nine of the 10 hottest months of April (in terms of maximum temperatures) since 1951 have been recorded from 1999 to 2022.
With the city firmly in the grip of a heat wave on Friday, the weather department expected a further rise in the maximum temperature and no respite till Monday.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), at Safdarjung, the maximum temperature was recorded at 43.5 degrees Celsius, five notches above the season's average, same as a day earlier. The minimum temperature was 25.8 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.
Pitampura and Najafgarh clocked 45.9 degrees each, Ridge was at 45.6 degrees and Jafarpur at 45.2 -- all six to seven notches above normal.
Experts said both the Sports Complex and Gurgaon stations, which recorded 46.2 degrees C and 45.9 degrees, respectivelym, were likely influenced by urban heat islands such as roads or concrete structures in close proximity. However, these are the actual felt temperatures in many highly urbanised parts of the NCR.
Meanwhile, the air quality of the city worsened within the poor category. On Friday, the Air Quality Index (AQI), on a scale of 0 to 500, was recorded at 299 against 299 a day earlier.
