New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) The national capital on Friday recorded a high of 41.7 degrees Celsius, over a notch above the season’s normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The weather department issued a ‘yellow’ alert for Saturday as it predicted the mercury to reach a maximum of 44 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 31 degrees Celsius.
However, there was no prediction for a heat wave.
The Met office has four colour-coded warnings — green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).
On Friday, the city noted a minimum temperature of 30.8 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season’s average, and the relative humidity oscillated between 42 per cent and 60 per cent during the day.
For Saturday, the IMD has predicted mainly clear skies with surface winds reaching speeds of 25 to 35 kilometres per hour during the day. It has also predicted a warm night at isolated places.
The threshold for a heat wave is met when the maximum temperature of a weather station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees in the coastal areas, and 30 degrees in the hilly regions, and the departure from normal is at least 4.5 notches.
A severe heat wave is declared if the departure from normal exceeds 6.4 notches.
Maximum temperatures in the national capital had soared to about 45 degrees Celsius, placing it under ‘red’ or ‘orange’ warnings due to expected heat waves in previous days.
On Wednesday, the maximum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 43.4 degrees Celsius, 42.4 degrees on Tuesday and 44.1 degrees on Monday.
The highest temperature this summer was recorded on May 19 at 44.4 degrees Celsius, according to IMD data. PTI NSM RPA
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