"Sensor Error Showing Maximum Temperature 52.9℃... But Heatwave Nearing 50℃ in New Delhi, India"

Minister of Earth Sciences Announces "Measured 3 Degrees Higher"
Heatwave-Related Deaths Counted at 165

The recent daytime high temperature record of 52.9 degrees Celsius in New Delhi, the capital of India, was found to have been measured 3 degrees higher due to a sensor error at the weather station.

On the 2nd (local time), according to local media, Kiren Rijiju, India's Minister of Earth Sciences, announced that an investigation into the 52.9-degree reading recorded at the Mundka weather station in New Delhi on the 29th of last month revealed this error. The India Meteorological Department also issued a statement with the same content.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, the media reported that even if the temperature at the Mundka station at that time is adjusted down by 3 degrees to 49.9, it would still be considered the highest ever recorded in New Delhi. This is because the previous highest daytime temperature in New Delhi was 48.4 degrees, recorded on May 26, 1998.

The Meteorological Department also reviewed the daytime high temperatures of 49 and 49.1 degrees recorded at two other stations in New Delhi on the 29th of last month but found no sensor errors.

In New Delhi, the heatwave continued for eight consecutive days, with the daytime high reaching 46.2 degrees the previous day, resulting in four deaths suspected to be due to heatstroke.

In other parts of India, heatwaves exceeding 40 degrees continued, and on the previous day alone, a total of 77 people died across the country, including the four deaths in New Delhi.

As a result, the total number of heatwave-related deaths across India this summer has reached 165 so far.