Delhi sweats at 34.4°C, seven degrees above normal as early heat continues

The IMD has forecast that the maximum will remain between 33-35°C till Monday, possibly rising by another degree on Tuesday as it inches closer to 36°C.

Clear blue skies and bright sunshine kept temperatures soaring, leading Delhi to record a maximum of 34.4°C on Friday — a whopping seven degrees above what is considered normal for this time of the year, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The IMD has forecast that the maximum will remain between 33-35°C till Monday, possibly rising by another degree on Tuesday as it inches closer to 36°C. (PTI file photo)

It was 34.3°C a day earlier and 33.2°C on Wednesday, showing the gradual upward march of the mercury, which is a clear indication that temperatures are rising unusually early across northwest India, said weather scientists. The IMD has forecast that the maximum will remain between 33-35°C till Monday, possibly rising by another degree on Tuesday as it inches closer to 36°C.

In recent years, the earliest the maximum has crossed the 35°C threshold was in 2021, when it touched 35.2°C on March 11. This is likely to be eclipsed in the coming days. Last year too, it was unusually warm fairly early, with the maximum crossing 35°C on March 14 (36.2°C). In 2024, this happened on March 27 (37°C), and in 2023 it happened as late as April 11 (36.8°C).

“With no western disturbance expected in the northern plains, we will continue to see similar weather over the next few days. Dry westerly winds will only raise the mercury further and it can cross 35°C in the next few days,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president of Skymet.

The IMD also said no significant change is likely in the coming week. “Maximum temperatures are likely to continue to remain above normal by 8 to 10 degrees in several parts of the western Himalayan region over the next four days, by 5 to 7 degrees over the plains of northwest India, and by 4 to 6 degrees over adjoining central India in the coming week,” the IMD said in its national weather bulletin on Friday.

In terms of minimum temperature, nights too remained warmer than normal. The minimum stood at 17°C, which was 3.6°C above normal. It was 18.2°C a day earlier. Forecasts show the minimum is likely to hover between 16-18°C till Monday and between 17-19°C from Tuesday onwards.

Delhi’s air quality, meanwhile, remained in the ‘moderate’ category on Friday. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 172 (moderate) at 4pm on Friday, up from 142 (moderate) on Thursday, showed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s daily bulletin. Forecasts by the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi show the AQI is likely to touch ‘poor’ on Saturday, but should return to ‘moderate’ by Sunday.

On Friday, an assessment of winter pollution data was released by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) for the period from October 1, 2025, to February 28, 2026. The report said Ghaziabad, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 172 μg/m³, was the most polluted city in the country, followed by Noida (166 μg/m³) and Delhi (163 μg/m³).

The assessment also found that 204 of 238 cities with sufficient monitoring data recorded a winter average PM2.5 concentration above India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of 40 μg/m³.