Delhi remained under intense summer heat on Sunday, with the maximum temperature reaching 42.1°C, about three degrees above the seasonal average. Although slightly lower than Saturday’s 42.8°C, the drop did little to improve overall comfort levels across the city.

As per IMD records, the highest temperature recorded in the capital Delhi was 43.5 degree Celsius at the Ridge location. A day prior, several parts of Delhi saw the occurrence of heat wave in the season, when the maximum temperature rose to 44.5 degree Celsius.

Although Sunday did not witness heat wave due to not meeting the criteria required for the same, the conditions continued to remain severe especially during afternoons, with minimum temperatures too on the higher side of 26.2 degree Celsius.

Monday will see a yellow alert from the IMD, indicating that heatwave-like conditions could occur in certain isolated regions. Nevertheless, there are some early indications that there could be a ray of hope in terms of slight showers or drizzle late in the day. The temperature is expected to fall significantly from Tuesday onwards as rains and strong winds lower the temperature below 40°C.

Cloudiness will continue until midweek, bringing the temperature to 37°C on Thursday.

“In Delhi, maximum temperatures were observed in the range of 42–44°C on Sunday, yet no heatwave conditions have been observed due to a slight fall of 1°C in the maximum temperature and close to a 1°C rise in the normal temperature,” said IMD scientist Krishna Mishra.

“Normal temperatures change after every five-day interval … Normal temperature for Safdarjung for the period April 26–30 is 39°C, while it was 37.7°C for the period April 21–25,” Mishra added.

According to the IMD norms, a heatwave is declared in cases where the temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius with an increase of 4.5 degrees above normal, or reaches 45 degrees Celsius or above. However, whereas most of the observation stations crossed this mark on Saturday, it was not able to do so on Sunday because of the slight fall in temperature.

Another issue was that of air quality. The AQI for Delhi on Sunday stood at 222, which makes it “poor,” but it is a little better than the 243 on Saturday.

Residents are advised to stay at home especially during peak hours and hydrated and keep track of weather updates as conditions are expected to shift in the coming days as both high temperatures and pollution are affecting daily life.