No Respite From Heat In Delhi: Dry And Hot Weather To Continue
Representational Image: AI-Skymet
Key Takeaways:
- Most weather stations across Delhi-NCR continue to record extreme temperatures between 44°C and 46°C.
- Delhi witnessed its first warm night of the season as Safdarjung recorded a minimum of 31.9°C.
- Strong surface winds of 40-45 km/h are triggering intense “loo” conditions during afternoon hours.
- Temperatures are likely to stay around 45°C through this week and may continue into next week.
Most weather stations in and around the national capital continue to reel under high temperatures in the range of 44°C-46°C. Base station Safdarjung, after recording the first heat wave day on 18th May 2026, marginally fell short of the criteria, and the highest temperature got arrested at 44.5°C, about 4.1°C above normal. However, the city registered the first warm night of the season when the minimum temperature rose above 30°C for the first time this year. The minimum temperature was 31.9°C today, and it was 5.2°C above the pentad normal.
Heat wave is announced under two conditions: Either the day temperature breaches the 45°C mark or the day maximum has a departure of 4.5°C or more when the measured temperature is above 40°C. Warm night conditions are declared when the recorded maximum temperature is 40°C or more and the minimum temperature has a departure of 4.5°C-6.4°C from normal. Very warm night is proclaimed when the departure goes above 6.4°C.
There is no active weather system in the vicinity of the Delhi region. Yes, the pressure gradient has built up and has triggered strong surface winds right since the morning hours. These winds are expected to remain speedy for the next few days. Both Palam and Safdarjung observatories have reported gusty winds of the order of 40-45 km/h. While strong winds will have a tendency to mitigate the heat stress, albeit nominally, the combination of rising heat and windy conditions will trigger “loo”, more pronounced during afternoon hours.
The temperature will remain close to 45°C (+/- 1°C) during this week and may spill over into the next one as well. Isolated patches of clouds with flashes of lightning from distant thunder clouds during the late evening hours are quite likely on 22nd & 23rd May 2026. Strong surface winds, more so during the forenoon/afternoon hours, will remain the highlight of this week.
