NEW DELHI, MAY 17 — The national capital and multiple northern states are preparing for an extended period of extreme summer conditions starting Monday, with maximum temperatures projected to hit 45 degrees Celsius.
The India Meteorological Department issued a forecast indicating that the capital will experience a sustained heatwave over the upcoming week, causing temperatures to remain consistently above normal levels.
Meteorological logs show that regional temperatures are climbing steadily following a brief period of moderate conditions. On Saturday, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 40.8 degrees Celsius, followed by similar readings exceeding the 40-degree mark on Sunday. According to weather department bulletins, daytime maximums from May 18 to May 20 will fluctuate primarily between 43 and 45 degrees Celsius, while nighttime minimums will stay elevated between 25 and 27 degrees Celsius, reducing typical evening cooling.
Weather analysts stated that a shift in regional atmospheric patterns is driving the sudden thermal surge. Mahesh Palawat, president of Skymet Weather, noted that moist easterly air currents have transitioned into northwesterly winds originating from central Pakistan and Rajasthan. He stated that these dry, hot winds are moving directly across the plains, which will naturally lead to increasing temperatures over the next few days and trigger widespread heatwave conditions.
The thermal escalation is expected to affect a broad geographical belt across northwest and central India. The weather department noted that temperatures across the subcontinent will rise by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius through midweek. Isolated sections of Rajasthan will experience heatwave trends until May 23, while similar conditions are anticipated for Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi. Extreme heatwave patterns are also projected for parts of Uttar Pradesh, alongside parallel warnings for Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
The regulatory agency did not immediately deploy a color-coded emergency alert system for the capital region, but it advised caution due to secondary environmental factors. Forecasters reported that strong surface winds will persist during daylight hours, averaging speeds of 20 to 30 kmph with periodic gusts reaching 40 kmph.
