Delhi Records Highest Temperature in India at 52.3°C Amidst Severe Heatwave

Today, 52.3 degrees Celsius was recorded as the highest temperature ever recorded in India. At 2:30 pm, this number was reported by a Mungeshpur temperature monitoring station in Delhi. India Meteorological Department (IMD) regional head Kuldeep Srivastava gave an explanation for the temperature increase, stating that hot winds from Rajasthan first affect the city's outskirts. "The early arrival of these hot winds can exacerbate the already bad weather in certain parts of Delhi. The first places to feel the full brunt of these scorching winds are Mungeshpur, Narela, and Najafgarh, he told news agency PTI.

On this second day of unprecedented heat, the temperature was over nine degrees Celsius higher than predicted and had risen above the 2002 record of 49.2 degrees Celsius. On Wednesday night, there was also a brief downpour in Delhi, which is probably going to increase the humidity. Over 30 million people are thought to live in Delhi, which is the subject of a red alert health notification from the IMD. Extreme care is required for those who are vulnerable as there is a "very high likelihood of developing heat illness and heat stroke in all ages," according to the advisory. Although scorching summer temperatures are nothing new to India, years of scientific research have revealed that heatwaves are becoming longer, more frequent, and more intense due to climate change.

Other areas that reported extremely high temperatures are both in the desert state of Rajasthan - 51 degree Celsius in Phalodi and 50.8 degree Celsius in other places. The national capital reported its all-time high power demand of 8,302 megawatts (MW) amid the heatwave as more and more residents turned on power-intensive air-conditioning.

50.3 degrees Celsius were recorded at Sirsa in Haryana. Due to moist wind incursion from the Arabian Sea, a drop in temperature of up to 4 degrees Celsius has been observed throughout the districts of south Rajasthan, including Barmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Sirohi, and Jalore. This indicates the start of the heatwave decrease over northwest India. According to Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) data, which forecasts future weather by processing current weather observations through computer models, this declining trend is expected to continue northward, bringing a gradual break from scorching conditions starting on May 30.

Furthermore, a progressive decrease in the maximum temperature over Uttar Pradesh is anticipated due to the arrival of humid winds from the Bay of Bengal starting on Thursday.