Warm days, cool nights to continue till April 16: IMD

Monday’s maximum of 34.9 degrees Celsius was the highest so far this year, but the minimum temperature was recorded at 15.7°C — four degrees below normal for this time of the year

As Delhi inches closer to summer, the days have started becoming warmer, but night-time temperatures remain below normal and similar conditions are likely to prevail till April 16, the weather department said.

People out on a hot day at Kartavya Path, in New Delhi on Monday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

Monday’s maximum of 34.9 degrees Celsius (°C) was the highest so far this year, but the minimum temperature was recorded at 15.7°C — four degrees below normal for this time of the year. This is part of a trend seen across April 2023. For example, on Sunday, the city recorded a high of 34.8°C, but the minimum was as low as 15.4°C.

In fact, the highest minimum temperature logged in the Capital in April so far has been 17.2°C on April 6.

Met officials said cool northwesterly winds and the impact of four western disturbances since mid-March have kept night temperatures below normal.

In comparison, Delhi’s minimum had already touched 23.5°C on April 10 last year, while the highest minimum till April 10 in 2021 was 21.7°C (April 7).

The minimum temperature — even though forecasts show a gradual rise over the next six days — is likely to stay below the 20-degree mark till April 16, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Forecasts show Delhi’s maximum is likely to touch 36°C by Tuesday, 37°C by Thursday and 38°C by Saturday. In terms of minimum temperature, IMD forecasts show that the mercury mat touch the 16-degree mark on Tuesday, rising to 17°C on Wednesday, 18°C on Thursday and 19°C by Saturday.

“In the second half of March, we began to see western disturbances, which mainly brought rain towards the evening or night time... Even now, we are seeing northwesterly winds and there is still some cloudiness, which has kept the nights relatively cooler. As we start to see clear skies return in the region, a gradual rise in minimum temperature will take place too, just as the maximum rises.” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

Delhi’s minimum has remained below the 20-degree mark since March 17 when it recorded a temperature of 18.2°C, IMD data showed.

Over the last decade, Delhi saw a similar spell in 2020, when the minimum failed to cross the 20-degree mark throughout March. In the first 10 days of April too, the highest minimum recorded was 19.8°C. This, experts said, was once again due to good rainfall. March 2020 saw Delhi log 109.6mm of rainfall — an all-time monthly record for the Capital. This March, Delhi saw 53.2mm of rainfall, which is three times the normal monthly mark of 17.4mm.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president at the private forecaster Skymet, said the impact of rain in the end of March and the first week of April kept temperatures in Delhi below normal till April 7. He said though clear skies returned to the region over the last couple of days, Delhi’s nights are still cooler as the impact of surface heating is yet to kick in.

“The maximum has already returned to the normal mark and in the coming days, will go above normal. Even then, nights are not as hot because we are still not seeing surface heating to the same level as we saw at this time last April, when the maximum was 40 degrees or higher. When temperatures are close to the 40-degree mark, heat loss at night is slow, and so nights are fairly warm. At present, a combination of not enough surface heating and cool northwesterly winds is making for pleasant nights.” he said.