Friday night gave Delhi something rare for April: rain. A thunderstorm dumped 19 mm of water at Palam, the highest single-day April rainfall the city has seen since 2010. But do not get too comfortable. Sunday is a different story, and a considerably hotter one.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), most of India will be hot and largely dry on April 19, with two striking exceptions: the Northeast and the western Himalayas.
WHAT WILL THE WEATHER BE LIKE IN DELHI ON SUNDAY?
The brief respite is over. The IMD has forecast mainly clear to partly cloudy skies over Delhi-NCR on Sunday, with maximum temperatures expected to climb between 39 and 41 degrees Celsius.
That is one to three degrees above what is normal for this time of year. Minimum temperatures will stay between 22 and 24 degrees Celsius, and winds will be light, blowing in mainly from the northwest at around 10 to 15 kilometres per hour.
No rain is expected. Summer, quite simply, is back.
While Delhi will not formally be under a heat wave, the IMD has flagged a moderate health risk for vulnerable groups, including the elderly, infants and people with chronic illnesses.
Staying indoors during peak afternoon hours and drinking plenty of water is strongly advised.
WILL IT RAIN IN THE NORTHEAST ON SUNDAY?
Yes, and quite heavily in places. The IMD has forecast scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds of 30 to 50 kilometres per hour over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura on Sunday.
Isolated heavy rainfall is possible over Arunachal Pradesh and over Assam and Meghalaya. People in flood-prone and landslide-vulnerable areas should remain alert.
Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim could also see isolated heavy showers.
Meanwhile, a Western Disturbance, which is a storm system that travels all the way from the Mediterranean Sea and brings rain and snow to northern India during winter and spring, will trigger widespread rain, snow and thunderstorms over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
WILL INDIA WITNESS A HEAT WAVE ON SUNDAY?
Formal heat wave conditions, where temperatures soar well above normal and cross 40 degrees Celsius, are expected in isolated pockets of East Rajasthan, Odisha and East Uttar Pradesh.
Much of central and southern India will already be sizzling, with temperatures between 40 and 44 degrees Celsius across the plains.
And it is only going to get worse. Temperatures are expected to rise by a further two to three degrees Celsius across East India and by three to five degrees Celsius across Punjab, Haryana and Delhi over the coming days.
Brace yourself.
