Delhi saw the mercury rise to 46.9 degrees Celsius at Sports Complex, 46.4 degrees Celsius at Pitampura, 45.8 degrees Celsius at Jafarpur and 45.4 degrees Celsius at Ridge and Ayanagar. While it touched a high of 47.2 degrees Celsius at Mungeshpur and 47 degrees Celsius at Najafgarh.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) said all the weather stations recorded a heatwave day and as per the predictions, heatwave spell will worsen on Sunday. Earlier this week, the weather agency issued an orange alert for the national capital.
This is the fifth heatwave in the capital this summer. A heatwave at the end of that month had sent the mercury soaring to 46 and 47 degrees Celsius in several parts of the city.
"Hot and dry westerly winds sweeping the Delhi-NCR region will push the mercury further up. It is likely to hit the 45-degree mark at Safdarjung on Sunday," said Mahesh Palawat, Vice President (Meteorology and Climate Change), Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency.
"A cyclonic circulation over Punjab and Haryana will induce pre-monsoon activity which will provide some relief from the intense heat on Monday and Tuesday," he said.
A heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius and at least 4.5 notches above the normal. A severe heatwave is declared if the departure from normal temperature is more than 6.4 notches, according to the IMD.
Based on absolute recorded temperatures, a heatwave is declared when an area logs a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius.
A severe heatwave is declared if the maximum temperature crosses the 47-degree Celsius mark.
