New Delhi: Temperatures set to rise, but heatwave unlikely for 4-5 days

New Delhi: Delhi is predicted to record a gradual rise in maximum temperatures, but a heatwave is unlikely in the next four to five days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The capital's primary weather station, Safdarjung Observatory, recorded a minimum temperature of 25.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, two notches below normal.

The maximum temperature is predicted to settle around 39 degrees Celsius.June started on a cooler note in Delhi with back-to-back western disturbances resulting in intermittent rains. The maximum temperature has remained well below the 40-degree mark this month so far.

According to the IMD, the Safdarjung Observatory has not recorded a heatwave this year so. This has happened for the first time since 2014.

Meteorologists attributed the excess rainfall and below-normal temperatures this pre-monsoon season (March to May) to higher-than-usual western disturbances -- weather systems that originate in the Mediterranean region and bring unseasonal rainfall to northwest India.

However, this doesn't mean that there will be no heatwaves going ahead. With the monsoon onset over Kerala already delayed and meteorologists anticipating a sluggish progress beyond the southern peninsula due to Cyclone Biparjoy, temperatures over many parts of the country, including the national capital, are likely to remain above normal for a longer-than-usual period.

The IMD had last month predicted normal to below normal monsoon in northwest India which means more drier and hotter days.

Delhi recorded its coolest May in 36 years with excess rainfall bringing the average maximum temperature down to 36.8 degrees Celsius this time, according to the IMD.

The weather station recorded 13 heatwave days in the pre-monsoon season last year -- nine in April and four in May. It saw just one heatwave day during this period in 2021, four in 2020 and one in 2019.

The threshold for a heatwave is met when the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees in the coastal areas, and 30 degrees in the hilly regions, and the departure from normal is at least 4.5 notches.