Since May 2024, a severe and long

heat wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

has impacted

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The heat wave occurred during the Indian

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

, which typically lasts from March to July with peak temperatures in April and May.

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

's Churu recorded , which was the highest temperature in India in eight years. A temperature of 52.9°C recorded in Mungeshpur, Delhi, originally thought to be record-breaking, turned out to be roughly 3°C too high due to a faulty sensor.

Casualties

As of 3 June, there were 219 deaths from the heat wave, and 25,000 others suffered from heatstroke. The dead included 33 workers who stationed on election duty when India was conducting the seventh and last phase of its

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. There were 147 reported deaths in the state of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, and 12 more in

. In

, temperatures reached in Churu,

Sirsa Sirsa is a city and a municipal council in Sirsa district in the westernmost region of the Indian state of Haryana, bordering Punjab and Rajasthan. It is located near the Thar Desert, 250 kilometres north-west of New Delhi and 260 kilometers s ...

and

Phalodi Phalodi is a city in Phalodi district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is the headquarters for Phalodi district. Phalodi is also called the "salt city" due to the salt industry in Rin. Phalodi is in the buffer zone of Thar Desert and ofte ...

, while Delhi's Mungeshpur,

Narela Narela is a Suburb and a Tehsil of Delhi, located in the North Delhi district of Delhi, close to the border of Haryana. Narela is a part of North Delhi. It is 30 km away from the city centre of New Delhi. It is situated just off the Grand Tr ...

and

Najafgarh Najafgarh is a town in the South West Delhi, South West Delhi district of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India. It is one of the three subdivisions of the Southwest Delhi district. Najafgarh is located on outskirts of NCT Delhi in south we ...

also neared 50 °C on 28 May. There were more than twice as many heatwave days recorded in northwestern and eastern parts of the country than usual, mainly due to fewer non-monsoon thundershowers and warm winds blowing from neighbouring arid regions into India. IMD data showed that Delhi recorded its warmest night ever at a minimum temperature of 35.2 °C (95.36 °F). Indian authorities reported over 40,000 cases of heatstroke through the country during the heat wave.

Impact

Due to the intense heat increasing water consumption and lowering river levels,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

is currently suffering from a water crisis requiring water tankers to be driven into distribution points in order to provide hydration to citizens whose taps ran dry. The intense, prolonged increase in temperature caused many manufacturing companies to lower working hours during the month of May, contributing to a national three-month low in the rate of increase in new orders. Due to increased usage of electricity for cooling, the All India Power Engineers Federation warned of potential blackouts and loss of power on 18 June 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indian heat wave, 2024 2024 heat waves

Heat wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

May 2024 in India June 2024 in India