Delhi temperature may break record for highest ever in India: 126.1 degrees

A temperature reading taken in Delhi, India’s capital territory, may have broken national records as the country battles a scorching heat wave. The reading – 52.9 degrees Celsius or 126.1 degrees Fahrenheit – was preliminary and technically atypical compared to others taken in Delhi on the same day. employees said. But if confirmed, it would be the highest temperature ever recorded anywhere in India.

The temperature reading came from a substation in Mungeshpur, a neighborhood in Delhi. Located in the northwest, India’s capital territory – which includes its capital, New Delhi – is home to nearly 30 million people and covers around 600 square miles of land. The Indian Meteorological Department said in a press release that the Mungeshpur reading could be due to a sensor problem or some other error, and that it would examine the data and the sensor. In Delhi, substations at various locations generally recorded temperatures between 45.2 degrees and 49.1 degrees Celsius, which roughly corresponds to 113 degrees and 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Amid the heatwave, people in Delhi as well as the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have been advised to avoid exposure to heat under a “red” weather alert issued on Tuesday and Wednesday on Friday by the Indian Meteorological Department. O Red alertdesignating conditions from “heat wave to severe heat wave,” urged people to cool off if possible and stay hydrated, as at least three deaths have been reported so far in connection with the weather, according to the BBCa partner of CBS News.

The India Meteorological Department issues red alerts for “extreme heat” when a severe heatwave persists for more than two days. Alerts advise people to “take action” and warns of a “very high probability of developing illnesses caused by heat and heatstroke” for people of all ages, while calling for “extreme care” for vulnerable populations. A department spokesperson said at last daily weather report on Wednesday, excessive heat continued to persist in the north, but was expected to ease from Thursday.

Temperatures also rose outside Delhi. On Tuesday it was 50.5 degrees Celsius, or nearly 123 degrees Fahrenheit, in the area around a substation in Rajasthan, a desert state that has in the past recorded some of the highest temperature readings ever in India, according to the Indian Meteorological Department. Another substation in the city of Sirsa, which is further north, had a similar reading on Tuesday, at 50.3 degrees Celsius or about 122.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heatwaves are more common in India at this time of year, according to the weather service, which says they tend to happen between March and June, with heat peaking in May. But heat waves in the region have been especially treacherous recently. In April, hundreds of people across Asia died as a result of extremely high temperatures, in India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Gaza, as well as elsewhere. In India, this heat wave caused triple-digit temperatures in several areas, including the eastern city of Bhagora, where the temperature approached 115 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather damaged crops and forced schools to close prematurely, weeks before planned summer holidays.

A study on extreme weather conditions released earlier this month by the organization World Weather Attribution, said climate change has amplified what may have already been a strong heat wave, making it especially severe. At that time, Raghu Murtugudde, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai, told CBS News that El Niño may also have played a role.

“I think it’s a mix of El Niño, global warming and seasonality,” Murtugudde said. “El Niño is transitioning to La Niña. This is the time when maximum warming occurs towards the Indian Ocean. So all these things are basically adding steroids to the climate.”

Arshad R. Zargar and Li Cohen contributed reporting.