According to IMD Director General M Mohapatra, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is inspecting the temperature sensor at Delhi’s Mungeshpur automatic weather station to make sure it is functioning properly.
The temperature in Delhi on Wednesday was 52.9 degrees Celsius, according to the IMD. According to Dr. Mohapatra, out of Delhi’s 20 monitoring stations, 14 have shown a decrease in temperature, with an average of 45 to 50 degrees Celsius observed throughout the city.
He claimed that the tape has to be verified and that the Mungeshpur station is a “outlier”. A thorough examination is necessary into the Mungeshpur recording, while some observatories in Delhi had recorded a little higher temperature.
According to Dr. Mohapatra, a group of experts has traveled to Mungeshpur to inspect the temperature sensor. He further conjectured that the high recording might be due to local variables in the Mungeshpur area.
“The maximum temperature over Delhi NCR varied from 45.2 to 49.1 degree Celsius in different parts of the city. Mungeshpur reported 52.9 degree Celsius as an outlier compared to other stations. It could be due to error in the sensor or the local factor. IMD is examining the data and sensors,” the IMD said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju has questioned the readings.
“It is not official yet. Temperature of 52.3°C in Delhi is very unlikely. Our senior officials in IMD have been asked to verify the news report. The official position will be stated soon,” Kiren Rijiju said in a statement on social media platform X.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) regional head Kuldeep Srivastava gave an explanation for the temperature increase, stating that hot winds from Rajasthan first affect the city’s outskirts.
On this second day of unprecedented heat, the temperature was over nine degrees Celsius higher than predicted and had risen above the 2002 record of 49.2 degrees Celsius.
On Wednesday evening, there was also a brief downpour in Delhi, which is probably going to increase the humidity.
The highest temperature in 79 years was recorded at Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi’s main weather station, at 46.8 degrees Celsius.
Over 30 million people are thought to live in Delhi, which is the subject of a red alert health notification from the IMD. Extreme care is required for those who are vulnerable as there is a “very high likelihood of developing heat illness and heat stroke in all ages,” according to the advisory.
Although India is accustomed to scorching summer temperatures, years of scientific study have revealed that heatwaves are growing longer, more frequent, and more intense due to climate change.
As more and more people turned on their energy-intensive air conditioners during the heatwave, the nation’s capital recorded its all-time high power consumption of 8,302 megawatts (MW), according to electricity department authorities.
There have also been reports of exceptionally high temperatures in Phalodi, Rajasthan, which is a desert state, with 51 degrees Celsius, and 50.8 degrees Celsius, respectively.
50.3 degrees Celsius were recorded at Sirsa in Haryana.
Due to moist wind incursion from the Arabian Sea, a drop in temperature of up to 4 degrees Celsius has been observed throughout the districts of south Rajasthan, including Barmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Sirohi, and Jalore. This indicates the start of the heatwave decrease over northwest India.
According to numerical weather prediction (NWP) data, which forecasts future weather by processing current weather observations through computer models, this declining trend is expected to continue northward, delivering a gradual break from sweltering conditions starting on May 30.
Furthermore, a progressive decrease in the maximum temperature over Uttar Pradesh is anticipated due to the arrival of humid winds from the Bay of Bengal starting on Thursday.
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