By IANS,
New Delhi : If you thought Delhi has turned into an oven and it can’t get any worse, the weatherman has bad news – it may get hotter over the next few days. The maximum temperature was a good five degrees above average – at 43.7 degrees Celsius Tuesday.
“A heat wave condition continues to prevail over the national capital due to hot westerly winds blowing from Rajasthan,” an official at the Safdarjung meteorological department office told IANS.
The temperature could go up Wednesday. The Met department has forecast a maximum of 44 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 31 degrees Celsius Wednesday.
The minimum temperature Tuesday settled at 31.9 degrees Celsius, three notches above average. The temperature at 8.30 a.m. was 34.4 degrees Celsius.
The high mercury levels have caused a power shortage across the city.
A senior Delhi Transco official, admitting to the power shortages, said: “The rotational load shedding across the city today was between 20 megawatts to 300 megawatts.”
“The peak demand today was 3,848 megawatts,” the official added.
The Met officials said that the sweltering summer heat wave is likely to stay for a few more days following the delay in monsoon.
The monsoon has been delayed by 10 days and is now expected to hit the capital July 1.