Delhi's dust storm respite is over: Why a 45°C heatwave is roaring back

The dust storm that swept Delhi-NCR on May 23, 2026 brought a brief drop in temperature and welcome relief from the searing heat. But the IMD says the respite is short-lived, with a 45°C heatwave set to return from May 24 and stretch through May 27.

In Short

• Dust storm gave Delhi only brief respite before heatwave returns.
• Mercury to climb back towards 45 degrees through next week.
• IMD has issued orange alert covering Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, UP.

The dramatic dust storm that swept across Delhi-NCR on the morning of May 23 felt like a long-awaited gift. Skies darkened, the wind turned cool, and the mercury dropped from Friday’s 43.3°C peak as a wall of dust rolled over Rafi Marg, Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad and Ghaziabad.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert and gusts touched 60 to 80 kmph.

But anyone hoping for a longer break from the summer is in for disappointment. According to the IMD's latest bulletin, the respite will be measured in hours, not days.

The capital is bracing for another heatwave week, with temperatures expected to climb back towards 45°C by midweek.

WHY THE RELIEF WAS SO SHORT-LIVED

Pre-monsoon dust storms, known locally as aandhi, are not designed to cool a city for long.

The temperature drop they bring, usually 4 to 5°C, comes from cold downdraughts, which are columns of chilled air pulled down from inside towering cumulonimbus thunderclouds. These are dense, towering vertical clouds that span the entire troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere.

Once the storm passes, the Sun gets back to work on a baked land surface and the atmosphere heats up again.

In Delhi, the cooling was already on a tight clock. The IMD’s Saturday forecast notes that maximum temperatures will fall by only about 1°C on May 23, before rising steadily.

Overnight minimums have been refusing to drop, with the Safdarjung observatory clocking 31.9°C on Thursday, the city's warmest May night in 14 years.

WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEK

The IMD's six-day outlook reads like a forecast of relentless heat. Maximum temperatures are likely to creep back to 44 to 45°C across Delhi and parts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh through May 27.

Warm nights are expected to continue, which adds a health risk because the body gets little chance to recover after dark.

An orange alert is in force for roughly a week across the NCR-Delhi belt, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

A red alert, signalling the most extreme risk to health, is active over East Uttar Pradesh, East Madhya Pradesh and parts of Vidarbha for about three days.

Isolated thunderstorm or dust storm activity cannot be ruled out, especially if another western disturbance, a low-pressure system that travels eastwards from the Mediterranean, sweeps into North India.

But forecasters say no major sustained relief is on the horizon until the southwest monsoon advances over the region, typically in late June.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Doctors advise drinking water often, even when not thirsty, wearing loose cotton clothing, and avoiding strenuous outdoor work between noon and 4 pm.

Vulnerable groups, namely infants, elderly people and those with chronic illness, are most at risk during back-to-back hot nights.

After a dust event, the Air Quality Index also tends to spike, so masks and indoor air filtration help.

For now, the city must brace for a familiar pattern: brief, dramatic storms punctuating a long, hot wait for the rains.

- Ends