Delhi sizzles at 45.5 deg C as heat pumps into India from Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Super-hot winds from Pakistan are giving a killer edge to the heat wave which has claimed more than 500 lives across India.
While heat waves are fairly common in May, a number of factors have come together to make the current spell rather extreme. One is the heat transfer from south Pakistan through westerly winds. "In Sindh, temperatures have shot up to 49, even 50 degrees. Westerly winds are bringing with them this extreme, dry heat through a process called advection (transport)," said B P Yadav, director, IMD.

Delhi had its hottest day of the season on Monday as the maximum touched 45.5 degrees Celsius, the second highest May temperature in the capital in more than a decade. The extreme weather will continue for three days before rain brings temporary relief, meteorology officials said.

The maximum temperature on Monday in Jacobabad district of Sindh was 49 degrees C, according to the Pakistan meteorology office. Day temperatures are expected to be 48-50 degrees C in Nawabshah district (now called Shaheed Benazirabad) of the same state.
The loo blowing across most of north India is transporting this heat from Sindh into this region.