At 26.7°C, Delhi records hottest January day in 6 years

Delhi recorded its hottest January day in six years at 26.7°C, with air quality remaining "very poor." Rain is expected next week.

Delhi on Thursday recorded its hottest January day in six years, clocking a maximum temperature of 26.7°C, which was 4.6°C above normal and an increase from 25.5°C recorded on Wednesday.

At 26.7°C, Delhi records hottest January day in 6 years

Before this, January 21, 2019, was the hottest day for the month at 28.7°C.

Meanwhile, slow winds on Thursday kept Delhi’s air quality in the “very poor” category for the second day in a row. Parts of the city saw a moderate fog in the early morning hours but the day was warm. The temperature is set to rise further in the coming days, and air quality is likely to remain “very poor”, but next week could bring respite with light rain and thunderstorms forecast for February 3 and 4.

Bad air

The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 363 (very poor) at 4pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily national bulletin, an improvement. AQI was 365 (very poor) at the same time on Wednesday and 276 (poor) on Tuesday.

“The air quality is likely to be in very poor category from Friday to Sunday. The outlook for the next six days is that the air quality is likely to be in very poor to poor category,” the Air Quality Early Warning System’s (AQEWS) bulletin said on Thursday evening.

Warmer days ahead

The minimum temperature has risen. Safdarjung, representative of Delhi’s weather, recorded a minimum temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius (°C), 0.8 °C above the normal and 2.8 degrees higher than the minimum recorded a day before.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 26.7 °C, 4.6 °C above normal and a rise from 25.5 °C recorded on Wednesday.

The India Meteorological department (IMD) has forecast the maximum to be around 25-27°C and the minimum to be around 9-11°C on Friday.

Rain next week

The region is being influenced by a western disturbance that is likely to bring light rain over Delhi next week, according to IMD.

“Light to moderate rainfall or snowfall is likely to continue over Western Himalayan region till February 5 and rainfall is likely over plains of northwest India from January 21 to February 5. In Delhi, we might see light rain or drizzle on February 3 and light rain, accompanied by thunderstorms on February 4,” said an IMD official.

Fog and visibility

IMD said that wind speed in the early hours of Thursday stayed around 5kmph.

“A shallow to moderate fog was observed in parts of Delhi,” said a Met official.

According to IMD, Palam recorded a visibility of 1,000m at 7am which dropped to 700m at 8.30 am. Safdarjung recorded a visibility of 800m at 6.30am and 500m at 8.30am.