New Delhi: The city Monday continued to reel under heatwave conditions for the second straight day.However, after a thunderstorm hit Delhi in the evening, parts of the capital saw the mercury dip. India Meteorological Department has predicted the heatwave is likely to abate on Tuesday.The maximum temperature at Safdarjung, the city’s base station, was 42.2 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal. It was 41.8 degrees Celsius a day earlier. With this, Safdarjung has witnessed four heatwave days this season. Some other stations have seen more. Heatwave conditions were also seen on Monday at the Ridge (43.4), Palam (42.4) and Lodhi Road (42.1). According to IMD, when the air temperature was 34.8 degrees Celsius at 8.30 am, the heat index or feels-like temperature stood at 40.6 degrees Celsius. The Met department did not share the feels-like temperature during the daytime. It was 50.7 degrees Celsius at 5.30 pm on Sunday and 51.3 degrees Celsius at 2.30 pm on Saturday.“This is the second day of the heatwave conditions over Delhi. It is unlikely to continue on Tuesday due to the ongoing thunderstorm activity over Haryana and Delhi in which Palam has reported 52 kmph wind speed at 5 pm. Very light rainfall or drizzle has occurred over the southern parts of Delhi,” an IMD official said.Following the thunderstorm, Najafgarh saw a nearly 9-degree drop from 39.9 degrees Celsius to 31. Safdarjung reported a dip by three degrees and Palam by seven degrees.The maximum temperature is likely to remain around 40-42 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and may dip to about 36-38 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and further to nearly 32-34 degrees Celsius by July 3.IMD has issued a yellow alert for rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds up to 60 kmph from Tuesday to Thursday.There was no respite from the heat stress during the night as the minimum temperature settled at 31.1 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal, and the same as Sunday. It was the hottest June night in two years for two consecutive days.The last time a higher minimum temperature was recorded in June was on June 19, 2024, when it touched 35.2 degrees Celsius.
