Delhi reeled under heatwave conditions for the third day in a row Thursday, as maximum temperature touched 43.1 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal for this time of the year. The minimum, at 31.7 degrees Celsius, was four degrees above normal. Monsoon, which was supposed to reach Delhi by June 27, has been delayed this year after the advancement of easterly monsoon winds into Delhi and parts of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan weakened. The present heat wave in the region is due to dry westerly and south westerly winds from Pakistan to Northwest India. “Heatwave conditions are expected in isolated pockets over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, north Rajasthan, UP and north West MP in the next two days,” India Meteorological Department officials said. While Delhi was earlier expected to get some relief from the scorching heat and warm winds on Friday, a revised forecast states that while a thunderstorm with rain is expected on Friday, it will do little to lower temperatures. The maximum on Friday is expected to be 41 degrees Celsius, while the minimum will settle around 31 degrees Celsius. A light drizzle is also expected on Saturday, but the temperature will be in the range of 40 to 31 degrees Celsius. IMD officials said the temperature is unlikely to drop below 40 degrees Celsius till at least Wednesday, and there is very little likelihood of monsoon winds arriving in Delhi in the coming week. Delhi has, so far, seen a cooler than usual summer this year, with April, May and June seeing lower than usual average temperatures. As per IMD, in June, the average maximum temperature was 38.3 degrees Celsius, 0.8 degrees lower than the normal average of 39.1 degrees Celsius. The highest maximum temperature for the month was 43.5 degrees Celsius, recorded on Wednesday. The average minimum temperature in June was a significant 2 degrees below the normal of 27.9 degrees Celsius. The lowest minimum temperature was 17.6 degrees Celsius, recorded on June 1. This is also the all-time lowest temperature recorded in June since records have been maintained. Rain, which was above normal in May, was 47% below normal in June. While Delhi usually sees around 65.5 mm rain in June, but this time it received only 34.8 mm rain during the month. With the IMD saying that monsoon is not expected in the city till at least July 7, this is the longest delay in its arrival in Delhi since 2006, when rains came on July 9.
