February likely to end on a warmer note: IMD

Delhi's temperature hit 29.7°C, with a forecast to rise to 33°C by February 28. Air quality remains "poor" with no significant changes expected.

New Delhi: The Capital sweated it out on Sunday as the maximum temperature climbed to 29.7°C — four degrees above the normal for this time of the year and up from the previous day’s 28.1°C.

The IMD said clear skies and the absence of a western disturbance are likely to cause this spike (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts the maximum temperature to rise to 33°C by February 27-28, ending the month on a fairly warm note.

IMD data shows that the maximum temperature in February breached 33°C only twice between 2010 and 2025 — 33.6°C in 2023 (February 21) and 33.2°C in 2021 (February 26). The all-time high for the month stands at 34.1°C, recorded on February 26, 2006, according to the data.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the “poor” category. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 229 at 4pm on Sunday. It was 213 at the same time on Saturday. Forecasts show no significant change in air quality ahead.

Notably, the long-period average (LPA) for the period from February 25 to March 1 is 26.1°C — making a spike to 33°C a large anomaly. The IMD said clear skies and the absence of a western disturbance are likely to cause this spike.

“Clear blue skies will persist in the region till the end of the month. No weather feature or rain is likely in the coming days, so the maximum temperature is likely to rise by 2-3°C till February 28,” said an IMD official, adding that the maximum temperature could possibly be 5.1°C or more above the normal temperature in the next seven days.

So far, the highest maximum this month has been 31.6°C — which was recorded on February 16. This was the earliest in four years that the maximum crossed 30°C. It was 30.9°C on February 17 too, before a western disturbance brought overcast skies and patchy rain, leading to a sharp dip in maximum to 21.1°C on February 18.

“Since the western disturbance was fairly weak, it only controlled the maximum for a day before it began rising again. With no rain immediately ahead, it will spike further,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet.

Navdeep Dahiya, an amateur weatherman, also called it an “abnormally warm” end to February in north India.

“Maximum temperatures will largely stay above 30°C next week, while it may hit 33°C towards the weekend across Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh, and around 35-37°C in parts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh,” said Dahiya.

He added that Delhi and Chandigarh may even reach new all-time highs during this seven-day period.

The minimum temperature meanwhile stood at 12°C on Sunday, which was around the normal for this time of the year. It is forecast to hover between 13-15°C on Monday and between 14-16°C on Tuesday. By the weekend, the minimum may rise to 17°C, according to an IMD forecast.

“Delhi’s air quality is likely to be in the ‘poor’ category from February 23 till 25. In the subsequent six days from February 26, it is likely to hover between ‘moderate’ and ‘poor’,” said the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi.