Tuesday recorded this season’s highest temperatures so far at 42.2 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal, and Met department experts warned that this was only the beginning. By the end of the week, the temperature is likely to touch 44-45 degrees. The weatherman also warned that there would be no respite from the heat in the coming weeks and it would just get hotter.
While Tuesday’s maximum was three degree above normal and up from Monday’s 41.2 degrees Celsius, the minimum was at 26.7 degrees, two notches above normal and up from Monday’s 26.4. The humidity oscillated between 15-54%, the MeT department said. So far, Monday’s temperature was recorded as the season’s highest and soon, more such records are expected to be broken.
On Wednesday, the mercury is likely to be around 42 degrees Celsius and the minimum could be 28 degrees Celsius.
“Right now, the days will just get more hot and there are chances of breaking last year’s record of the hottest May in the years, too,” said a Met official. According to statistics, last year, the maximum had touched 45.4 degrees Celsius on May 18, the highest in the past 10 years for the month. The earlier record of maximum for May was 47.2 degrees Celsius recorded on the 29th of the month in 1944.
All over the city, the impact of the heat wave could be clearly seen as Delhiites sweated in the sun and complained of heatstroke. Sale of cold drinks and refreshing drinks also went up. Power demand was also high as it crossed 4,400 MW in the mid-afternoon, reported SLDC.
“I had to walk from outer circle in Connaught Place to inner circle where my car was parked in the afternoon and by the time I got there, I was drenched in sweat. Even switching on the air-conditioner on full did not help much because it was just so hot,” said Mitashi Aggarwal, a businesswoman.
College students Mayank Arora and Ayush Gupta said they must have consumed at least half a dozen bottles of chilled water in the afternoon as they moved around the city for a college project. ‘By the time it was evening, we felt ill and have decided to stay indoors as long as this heat wave lasts,” said Gupta.