Heatwave in isolated areas, orange alert stays

New Delhi: The city continued to sizzle on Wednesday, with isolated heatwave conditions recorded in parts. The mercury touched 46.5°C in North Delhi’s Ridge, 46.3°C in northwest Delhi’s Mungeshpur and 44.5°C — 4.1 notches above normal — at Safdarjung, the city’s base station.No respite is in store. A heatwave warning was extended till May 26 and an orange alert is in place till then. Isolated to citywide heatwave conditions are likely to persist, with the maximum temperature expected to hover between 43°C and 47°C, Met officials said.On Tuesday, Safdarjung logged a season-high maximum of 45.1°C.For heatwave conditions to be declared in the plains, the maximum temperature should either be above 45°C, or above 40°C with a departure of more than 4.5 notches above normal.

A severe heatwave is declared when the departure is at least 6.5°C above normal.On Wednesday, Delhi’s four weather stations — Mungeshpur, Lodhi Road, Ayanagar and Ridge — met these heatwave criteria. Heatwave is declared in the entire city when these conditions are met in Safdarjung as well.“With clear skies and dry westerly winds persisting, Delhi-NCR continued to record high temperatures, similar to large parts of northwest and central India. No significant change in weather conditions is likely, till at least the weekend, meaning heatwave conditions should persist in parts of the city,” an IMD official said.

In 2025, Delhi didn’t have any heatwave in May because of strong western disturbances and a cumulative rainfall of 185.92 mm. However, 2024 witnessed six straight heatwave days — from May 26 to 31 — with the highest temperature reaching 46.8°C. At that time, locations like Narela and Mungeshpur crossed 49°C.Weather analysts said though a western disturbance is likely to impact northwest India from the evening of May 23 — possibly bringing some rain in Punjab and Haryana — Delhi is likely to continue reeling under isolated heatwave conditions.

“The thundery development will possibly impact parts of Delhi, too. However, the temperatures will continue hovering close to 46°C to 47°C for two to three days thereafter,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president at Skymet.The thermal stress was felt early Wednesday as well, with Delhi’s minimum temperature recorded at 28.3°C — almost two notches above normal — against 28.2°C a day earlier. It is expected to hover between 27°C and 29°C till the weekend.Meanwhile, the city’s air quality slipped back to the ‘moderate’ range on Wednesday. The air quality index (AQI), on a scale of 0 to 500, stood at 168, down from 208 (poor) on Tuesday, when Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked stage-1 measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).