Delhi sizzles at 47.4°C; IMD issues fresh heatwave warning for North India till May 21

New Delhi, May 18: A day after Delhi’s Najagarh baked at over 47°C to trend as the hottest place in the country, the Met department on Friday held out no immediate respite from the searing and scalding heatwave as it issued a fresh heatwave warning for the northern plains till May 21, Tuesday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast a heatwave and a severe heatwave condition across vast swathes of North India, including several parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, between May 17 and 21.

The premier weather forecasting agency said heatwave conditions were likely to prevail in parts of Uttar Pradesh from May 17-21; in isolated pockets of Gujarat between May 17 and 21; Bihar from May 17-20; Jharkhand between May 19 and 20; north Madhya Pradesh from May 18-21; Gangetic West Bengal between May 18 and 20; and Odisha on May 20 and 21.

While a red alert for severe heatwave was issued for west Rajasthan, an orange alert was also out for Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, East Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. A yellow alert for a heatwave-like condition was issued as well for Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha.

An area is considered to be in the grip of a heatwave if the maximum temperature at a weather station reaches at least 40°C and at least 30°C or more for hilly regions. The national capital accounted for some of the highest daytime temperatures in the country on Friday, with Najafgarh in southwest Delhi sweating at 47.4°C.

Himachal’s Una also recorded the season’s highest temperature for the state, at 43.2°C while Agra logged the second-highest maximum temperature ever recorded in the city at 46.9°C. Chandigarh, too, continued to reel under sweltering hot weather, recording a maximum temperature of 44.5°C. It was the third-highest maximum temperature ever recorded in the city, which doubles up as the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.

Rajasthan’s Barmer recorded a maximum temperature of 46.5°C on Friday, while Delhi’s Ayanagar logged 46.2°c. Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh recorded 44.9°C while Gujarat’s Surendranagar and Punjab’s Patiala logged 44.7°C and 44.4°C, respectively.

Amid the unrelenting heatwave, special arrangements were made for animals housed at Nahargarh Biological Park of Jaipur to cool off.  Similar cooling arrangements have also been made for the wildlife at Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur Zoological Park, amid the disconcerting heat.