Heatwave Sets In Over Northwest India
The Wire Staff
New Delhi: With the onset of summer, a heatwave has set in over northwest India.
Western Rajasthan is currently experiencing a “severe heatwave”, with maximum temperatures breaching 47 degrees Celsius, while a heatwave is sweeping across several western states including parts of Gujarat and the national capital.
Delhi will witness a heatwave on both April 8 and 9, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a press release on the evening of Tuesday (April 8).
The department predicted that these heatwave conditions will likely abate by April 10.
Heatwave over northwest India
The IMD said in a press release on April 8 that a heatwave has set in over several parts of northwest India.
It said that a “severe heatwave” would occur over some parts of western Rajasthan and that heatwave conditions would continue over some or many places in this region on April 8 and 9.
It also warned of heatwave conditions in some parts of Saurashtra and Kutch in Gujarat, parts of eastern Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh as well as Delhi, on April 8 and 9.
“Severe heatwave conditions”, it said, would also occur in some of these areas on April 8.
A heatwave is said to occur over a region if the maximum temperature goes above 45 degrees celsius, or when temperatures increase from between 4.5 and 6.4 degrees Celsius above the normal.
Meanwhile, a severe heatwave is said to occur when maximum temperatures exceed 47 degrees Celsius, or rises above normal levels by 6.4 degrees Celsius and higher.
Both are known to impact people – their health and livelihoods – in multiple ways. While people suffer from heat strokes and other health impacts as well as death due to such hot weather, the heat also makes outdoor work extremely difficult for daily wage workers; farmers often lose crops and livestock to heatwaves too.
Other areas in India that will witness a heatwave between April 8 and 10 are some parts of Himachal Pradesh, western Uttar Pradesh, the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
The phenomenon of warm nights – where night temperatures remain warmer than usual, at more than 40 degrees Celsius, or are between 4.5 degrees and 6.4 degrees Celsius higher than is normal for that region at that time – has also set in over India.
The IMD has predicted that warm night conditions are very likely to occur in parts of western Madhya Pradesh between April 8 and 10, and in parts of Rajasthan, the Marathwada belt and the central region of Maharashtra on April 8 and 9, and in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi on April 8.
Warm nights are a concern because when coupled with high daytime temperatures, nights that also continue to be warm increase exposure to continuous heat – which “increases the risk of illness and death from heat exposure”, per the WHO.
Meanwhile, “hot and humid” weather will occur over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, Kerala and Mahe on April 8; and Goa, the Konkan region and central Maharashtra on both April 8 and 9, the IMD predicted.
The IMD has categorised most of northwest India – including the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat – in the ‘red’ category, that is a “warning”, and areas such as Delhi and Punjab in ‘orange’, which is an alert regarding the high temperatures that these regions will witness on April 8.
However, the forecast for April 9 shows that the red zones have been replaced with orange.

Images show many red category areas changing to orange from April 8 to April 9. Source: MAUSAM, IMD.
The IMD predicts that these heatwave conditions will likely abate by April 10.
Delhi weather
According to the IMD, there has been a rise in minimum and maximum temperature by up to two degrees Celsius over the Delhi-National Capital Region, as per data recorded from 8:30 am on April 7 to 8:30 am on April 8.
The maximum and minimum temperatures over Delhi are in the range of 39 to 41 degrees Celsius and 21 to 25 degrees Celsius respectively.
In its April 8 press release, the IMD predicted that heatwave conditions would “very likely” occur in many places over Delhi, and that maximum temperatures here would range between 39 and 41 degrees Celsius.
On April 9, this range is set to increase, and maximum temperatures will be between 40 to 42 degrees Celsius.
Again, some parts of the city will witness heatwave conditions very likely, it said.
Essentially, Delhi will witness a heatwave on both April 8 and 9.
On April 10 and 11, the maximum temperature will drop to 38-40 degrees Celsius, and 36-38 degrees Celsius respectively, bringing some relief from the heat.
Night-time temperatures will also drop by two to four degrees Celsius during these days.
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