Weather Update: Monsoon Delayed; Delhi, UP, Punjab To Reel Under Severe Heatwave For Next 2 Days

There has been no rainfall in the last three days and warm westerly winds are blowing across a major part of northwest India.

Security personnel walk under umbrellas during the scorching heat in New Delhi. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: The heat wave conditions will be felt in some pockets of north India including Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, north Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and northwest Madhya Pradesh over the next two days due to likely dry westerly winds from Pakistan to northwest India at lower levels. 

According to the India Meteorological Department, "heat wave" is declared in the plains when the highest temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius and is at least 4.5 degrees above usual. On the other hand, a 'severe' heat wave is proclaimed when the temperature deviates from normal by more than 6.5 degrees Celsius (IMD). 

"Usually, the capital witnesses heat waves till June 20 and cooler temperatures thereafter. The increase in the maximum temperature this time can be attributed to the delay in the arrival of the monsoon," said Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting center. 

There has been no rainfall in the last three days and warm westerly winds are blowing across a major part of northwest India, which has not been covered by the monsoon yet, he added. 

As the monsoon continued to play hide and seek, Delhi on Monday recorded the first heat wave this summer season with the mercury soaring to 43 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature so far this year. 

A severe heat wave hit Lodhi Road, Ridge, and Pusa areas with the temperature rising seven degrees above average, to 42.6 degrees Celsius, 43.4 degrees Celsius, and 44.3 degrees Celsius, respectively. 

At 44.4 degree Celsius, 44.3 degrees Celsius, 44.2 degree Celsius, Najafgarh, Pitampura, and Mungeshpur also struggled with the heat wave. 

With the onset of monsoon in India, and most parts of the country expecting to receive an average to an above-average amount of rain in 2021, the heat wave comes as a hindrance in the Delhi monsoon.