Cloudy skies, light rain bring relief to Delhiites

New Delhi, June 1

The Capital on Saturday witnessed a significant shift in weather with cloudy skies and duststorms accompanied by light rain.

Gusty winds swept across the city and its adjoining areas, providing the much-needed respite from the recent scorching heat.

Max: 44.2°C

Min: 30.2°C

The weather department had predicted cloudy skies, heatwave conditions and duststorms or thunderstorms with light rain.

The change was a welcome relief to residents here who have endured extreme temperatures this summer.

On Saturday, the temperatures were recorded at 44.2 and 30.2 degrees.

On Friday, the maximum temperature in the city increased marginally, marking the sixth consecutive day that Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, recorded temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius. In the last two weeks of May, Delhi’s temperatures have consistently been unusually high.

Notably, Mungeshpur set a new national record with a staggering 52.3 degrees on Wednesday.

The Capital’s maximum and minimum temperatures a day earlier were recorded at 45.6 degrees and 30.4 degrees, respectively. With May coming to an end, this year has been the hottest since 2013. The average maximum temperature for the month was 41.4 degrees, which is 1.5 degrees above the long-period average of 39.9 degrees.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature in Delhi is expected to decrease to 42 degrees by Sunday before gradually rising again. The minimum temperature is forecast to oscillate between 29 degrees and 30 degrees for the next few days.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s peak power demand reached an all-time high of 8,302 MW earlier this week. This surpassed the previous record of 8,000 MW, set just days earlier on May 22.