As heatwave intensifies across India, the temperature at the national capital soars as high as 42.5 degrees Celsius. However giving some relief to Delhiites, the India Meteorological Department predicts a possible thunderstorm or a dust storm on Saturday.
According to the officials, favourable wind movements on the western horizon could result in a thunderstorm or a dust storm this coming weekend, cooling down the air in the city.
“A western disturbance is approaching and this could pave the way for a thunderstorm or dust storm accompanied with squally winds. It is likely to hit the city between Friday evening and Saturday evening,” a senior scientist of the regional weather forecasting centre said on Wednesday.
“But rain or no rain, the thunderstorm and squally winds would be enough to arrest the rising mercury level at least for a brief period. We expect the day temperature to come down to around 39 degrees over the weekend,” he added.
A Western Disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is a non-monsoonal precipitation pattern driven by the westerlies.
Delhi this Wednesday recorded the maximum temperature of 42.5 °C as per the Safdarjung observatory, whose recording is considered the official figure for the city; five notches above the season’s average, making it the hottest day in April since 2010 when the temperature had settled at 43.7 degrees Celsius.
