Weather update: After slight relief, Delhi to witness fresh heatwave spell from Monday

New Delhi: As Delhites experienced some relief with cloudy skies, strong winds and light rain in parts of Delhi this week, the India Meteorological Department said a fresh heatwave spell will start next week with temperatures soaring as high as 44-degree Celsius mark on Tuesday.

A fresh heatwave spell is very likely to start from Monday, and the mercury may touch the 44-degree Celsius mark on Tuesday, said IMD.

The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's base station, recorded a maximum temperature of 38.4 degrees Celsius, which is normal for this time of the year. The minimum temperature settled at 24.2 degrees Celsius.

Winds gusting up to 30 kilometres per hour barrelled through the national capital while Lodhi Road, Safdarjung, Pitampura and Ridge areas recorded light rainfall.

"The city witnessed 'very light' to 'light' rain due to local development. The winds from the Arabian Sea or the Bay of Bengal have led to some moisture incursion which in turn led to cloud formation hence the rain," IMD scientist Charan Singh said.

However, the relief is predicted to give way to intense heat next week as the temperature starts may climb from Saturday onwards.

After a long wait, Delhi had seen a hailstorm and light rain at isolated places on Wednesday.

The city saw a hot and dry March with nil rainfall against a normal of 15.9 mm. It got 0.3 mm rainfall in April against a monthly average of 12.2 mm.

A heatwave at the month-end had sent the mercury soaring to 46 and 47 degrees Celsius in several parts of Delhi.

(With inputs from PTI)