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Delhi on Wednesday witnessed the highest maximum temperature in 12 years in the month of April as the temperature rose to 43.5 degrees Celsius, several degrees above normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The city had recorded a maximum temperature of 43.7 degrees Celsius on April 18, 2010. The all-time high temperature for the month was 45.6 degrees Celsius recorded on April 29, 1941.
Here are the 10 updates to this story:
1. The mercury leaped to 46 degrees Celsius at Sports Complex, making it the warmest place in Delhi.
2. Ridge (45.1 degrees Celsius), Mungeshpur (45.8 degrees Celsius), Najafgarh (45.4 degrees Celsius) and Pitampura (45.2 degrees Celsius) recorded the maximum temperature at least five notches above normal.
3. "A maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius is normal at places like Churu, Barmer, Bikaner and Sriganganagar in Rajasthan, but 45-46 degrees Celsius in the plains of north India by April-end is quite unusual," independent meteorologist Navdeep Dahiya said.
4. Gurugram was the hottest place in Haryana, while common capital Chandigarh recorded a maximum temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius.
5. In Haryana, Hisar recorded a high of 44.5 degrees Celsius, Bhiwani 43.6 degrees Celsius, Narnaul 44.4 degrees Celsius, Rohtak 44 degrees Celsius, Ambala 42.8 degrees Celsius and Karnal 42.7 degrees Celsius, a meteorological department report showed.
6. In Punjab, Patiala and Bathinda recorded highs of 43.6 degrees Celsius each, Ludhiana 43.2 degrees Celsius, and Amritsar and Jalandhar 43 degrees Celsius each.
7. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an "orange" alert, warning the city residents of a severe heatwave on Friday.
8. Delhi may also see a partly cloudy sky, light rain and a dust storm with winds gusting up to 50 kilometres per hour on Friday and Sunday, which may provide temporary respite.
9. Delhi falls in the Core Heatwave Zone (CHZ), comprising the most heatwave-prone areas of the country, along with Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.
10. Northwest India has been recording higher-than-normal temperatures since the last week of March, with weather experts attributing it to the absence of periodic light rainfall and thundershowers, which typify this time of the year, due to the lack of active western disturbances.
