Amid brutal heatwave in north India, temporary relief expected in some areas

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an orange alert for Delhi on Saturday for a heatwave spell of two days. Mungeshpur and Najafgarh, the two weather observatories in Delhi, recorded over 49 degrees Celsius Sunday. While Gurgaon recorded a maximum temperature of 48.1 degrees Celsius, the highest the city has recorded in May in over 56 years, according to IMD.

Other states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh are also facing severe heatwaves with the mercury rising over 47 degrees Celsius.

Here are the other hottest cities in India that recorded highest temperatures on Sunday

Mungeshpur, Delhi - 49.2 degrees Celsius

Najafgarh, Delhi - 49.1 degrees Celsius

Banda, Uttar Pradesh - 49.0 degrees Celsius

Gurugram, Haryana - 48.1 degrees Celsius

Churu, Rajasthan - 47.9 degrees Celsius

Pilani, Rajasthan - 47.7 degrees Celsius

Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh - 47.6 degrees Celsius

Ganganagar, Rajasthan - 47.6 degrees Celsius

Narnaul, Haryana - 47.5 degrees Celsius

Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh - 47.4 degrees Celsius

As per the Met department, a cyclonic circulation over Punjab and Haryana is expected to induce pre-monsoon activity that will provide some relief from the intense heat on Monday and Tuesday.

The heatwave intensity is set to reduce from Monday in most of north and central India regions, except Kutch-Saurashtra. The maximum temperatures are expected to fall by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius but remain above the 40-degrees mark. A fresh western disturbance approaching north India is behind the relief.

Delhi’s skies were cloudy on Monday morning with a forecast of a thunderstorm or dust storm that may provide temporary relief from the sweltering heat.

India has been suffering severe heatwave conditions consistently since the beginning of the summer in March. The country recorded its hottest month of March and April was the fourth warmest in 122 years.

The recent relief is expected to be short-lived as heat conditions are will return around May 20 over Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Punjab, parts of Jammu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand as per an Indian Express report.