Delhi Weather: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said today (May 31) that Delhi recorded the coldest May in 36 years, this time with the average maximum temperature dropping to 36.8 degrees Celsius due to excess rainfall. Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional forecasting centre, said Delhi recorded an average maximum temperature of 36 degrees Celsius in May 1987.
“The average maximum temperature in May this year was 36.8 degrees Celsius, which is the lowest since then,” he said. Delhi recorded maximum temperature above the 40-degree mark for only nine days in May, with heat wave conditions affecting parts of the national capital for two days.
“The Safdarjung observatory, which is representative of Delhi, has not recorded any heat wave in the pre-monsoon season this year. This is the first time since 2014,” Srivastava said.
How many days of heatwave conditions were recorded in May:
The weather center recorded 13 heat wave days in the pre-monsoon season last year – nine in April and four in May. It saw just one heat wave day during this period in 2021, four in 2020 and one in 2019. The heat wave threshold is met when the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40 °C in the plains, 37 °C in the plains. 30 degrees in coastal areas, and mountainous areas, and the departure from normal is less than 4.5 degrees.
May, usually the hottest month in Delhi with an average maximum temperature of 39.5°C, recorded 111 mm of rainfall, which is 262 per cent more than the long-term average of 30.7 mm. According to IMD data, this is the fourth highest rainfall for the month after 165 mm in 2008, 144.8 mm in 2021 and 129.3 mm in 2002.
Rainfall in the month of April:
The city recorded over 20 mm of rainfall in April, the highest in the month since 2017, and heat wave conditions in isolated areas. Meteorologists have attributed excess rainfall and below-normal temperatures this pre-monsoon season (March to May) to higher-than-normal Western Disturbances – weather systems that originate over the Mediterranean region and unseasonal rains over northwest India Let’s bring
“Usually, five to six western disturbances are recorded over the northern plains in April and May. This time, we saw 10 western disturbances, mostly strong,” Srivastava said. “It is unusual. However, we cannot link it to climate change in the absence of data. There is no definite trend,” he said.
According to the IMD, Delhi recorded 184.3 mm of rainfall this pre-monsoon season (March to May), which is 186 per cent more than the normal.
(With PTI inputs)
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