The maximum temperature on Monday remained above the normal level, and is expected to further rise upto 35 degrees Celsius (°C) on Tuesday in isolated areas before scattered light rain brings a brief respite, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Safdarjung, the base weather station, was the hottest in the city with a maximum of 32.6°C — four notches above normal for this time of the year. It was 32.8°C a day earlier, which was the highest so far this year.
IMD has forecast the trend will continue and on Tuesday, the maximum is likely hover between 33-35°C. Marginal respite from the heat is likely from Thursday onwards, with chances of scattered light rain in the city on both Thursday and Friday, the Met department said.
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“Strong surface winds of 20-30 km/hr are likely in the city on both Tuesday and Wednesday, with a rising trend in temperature expected. The maximum could touch 35°C in isolated pockets,” said an IMD official, stating a western disturbance is likely to influence the city from Thursday.
Delhi’s maximum is known to cross the 35°C-mark in March. Last year, it touched 37.8°C (March 29). In 2023, the highest was 34.3°C (March 16). In 2022, it was 39.6°C (March 31) and in 2021, it was 40.1°C (March 30).
The minimum temperature, meanwhile, rose to 15.2°C, a degree above normal. It was 13.5°C a day earlier. IMD said nights too are set to get warmer, with the minimum likely hovering between 16-18°C on Tuesday and between 17-19°C on Wednesday.
“The western disturbance will not be fairly strong. Impact is expected late on Thursday night with chances of some drizzle in parts of NCR,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet, stating it should halt the rising mercury in the city.
This February was the country’s warmest on record based on the mean temperature. IMD has said that similar weather is likely to continue in the coming months, forecasting above normal maximum and minimum temperatures in most parts of the country, barring southern parts of peninsular India and isolated pockets in northeast India. Further, it has also forecast above normal heatwaves in most parts of the country except over northeast India, extreme north India and southwestern and southern parts of Peninsular India.
AQI improves marginally
The air quality improved marginally on Monday, returning to the “moderate” category. The average air quality index (AQI) stood at 197 at 4pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board, in comparison to the 209 recorded on Sunday.
Forecasts by the Centre’s Early Warning System for Delhi (EWS) for Delhi show that AQI is likely to worsen and return to “poor” on Tuesday. “The air quality is likely to be in the ‘poor’ category on Tuesday. The AQI is likely to be in the ‘moderate’ category on both Wednesday and Thursday,” said EWS.
CPCB classifies AQI between 0 and 50 as “good”.’ between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory,” between 101 and 200 as “moderate,” between 201 and 300 as “poor,” between 301 and 400 as “very poor,” and over 400 as “severe”.
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