Reeling under continuous blistering hot weather for a week, Delhiites got slight respite from the scorching heat on Saturday, as the mercury slipped to 43.5 degree Celsius.
Although maximum temperature has decreased slightly from that on Thursday — 45.7 degree Celsius, highest for May in a decade — Met department officials said this was a temporary respite following a western disturbance affecting Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
For the past few days, temperature in the Capital has been hovering over the 45 degree Celsius mark. The weather department had earlier forecast that it may rain by the month-end.
An official of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said there has been no heat wave alert in 24 hours, though temperature will remain above 42 degree Celsius for a couple of days more.
On Saturday, minimum temperature was 30.5 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal and 1 degree above of Friday's 29.5 degree Celsius. On Friday, maximum temperature touched the 45 degrees Celsius mark. Humidity remained around 22 per cent on Saturday.
"Maximum temperature above normal is a routine phenomenon during May and June. There is nothing unusual, as generally at this time the insulation is more," an official of the IMD said.
The impact of the western disturbance — forecast from Saturday — on the maximum temperature of Delhi and neighboring areas would be temporary and after a fall of about 1-2 degree Celsius over the weekend, the maximum temperature may start to rise again till the last week of May.
Humidity level hovered between 46 and 21 per cent. The Met department has predicted clear sky on Sunday and maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to remain at 43 and 30 degrees Celsius.