Partly cloudy conditions provide marginal relief, but no major pre-monsoon activity

New Delhi: Partly cloudy conditions provided a marginal relief from the searing heat in Delhi on Thursday but the city did not see any major pre-monsoon activity.

However, the Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert, warning of moderate rainfall, thundershowers and strong surface winds on Friday.

The Safdarjung Observatory, the city's base station, recorded a maximum temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius on Thursday as against 42.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. Most weather stations in Delhi recorded maximum temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius. The IMD said consecutive western disturbances and lower-level easterlies predicted in the coming days are likely to keep the heat at bay.

It has issued a yellow alert, warning of thundershowers or light rain, for four days starting Saturday. The mercury is predicted to drop to 36 degrees Celsius by Sunday.

The IMD uses four colour codes for weather warnings green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).

The weather will become clear after June 22 and dry westerly winds will commence but a steep rise in temperature is not predicted. The monsoon is expected to arrive in Delhi around the usual date — June 27 — or a day or two in advance.

Last year, the IMD had forecast that the monsoon would arrive in Delhi nearly two weeks before its usual date. However, it reached the capital only on July 13, making it the most delayed in 19 years. The capital has recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius and above on 27 days so far this summer season, the highest number of such days since 2012, according to IMD data. In 2012, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius or above on 30 days. The number of such days was 35 in 2010, the highest in the 1951-2022 period, the data showed.