The India Meteorological Department (IMD) clarified that the reported temperature of 52.9 degrees Celsius at Delhi’s Mungeshpur weather station on May 29 was due to a “malfunctioning sensor.” Upon investigation, experts from the IMD discovered that the automatic weather station (AWS) sensor at Mungeshpur was consistently reporting temperatures approximately 3 degrees Celsius higher than those recorded by the standard instruments.
This discrepancy became evident as no other weather observatory in Delhi recorded temperatures exceeding the 50-degree mark on that day. The highest temperatures at other stations were significantly lower, underscoring the anomaly in the Mungeshpur readings.
Despite this erroneous report, it is important to note that Delhi has indeed been experiencing severe heatwave conditions in recent days. High temperatures have been consistent across various parts of the city, although none have reached the extreme value initially reported from Mungeshpur.
Meteorological officials observed that the unusually high temperatures were due to areas like Mungeshpur, Narela, and Najafgarh being particularly vulnerable to the early arrival of hot winds from Rajasthan, intensifying the severe weather.
The report also noted that no significant discrepancies were found in the temperatures reported by other AWS stations in Delhi.
Additionally, the IMD noted that heatwave conditions are expected to diminish over the next 2-3 days.
“It has rained in many parts of Delhi this afternoon, leading to a further drop in temperature. Heatwave conditions will reduce over the next 2-3 days due to a gradual decline in temperature associated with an approaching western disturbance, rainfall/thunderstorms, and southwesterly winds blowing from the Arabian Sea to northwest India,” the IMD stated.