Maximum temperature in Delhi jumps to 33.2°C, may rise more

India Meteorological Department (IMD) recordings show that the maximum temperature at Safdarjung weather station, which is the official marker for the city, was 33.2 degrees Celsius, eight degrees above the season’s normal.

Delhi on Thursday recorded a maximum temperature of 33.2 degrees Celsius, a slight jump from Wednesday’s 32.5 degrees Celsius, and looked on course to break the record for the highest maximum temperature notched in the month of February in the last 15 years.

Before this, in 2018 and 2017, the day time temperatures had crossed the 32 degrees Celsius mark. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

India Meteorological Department (IMD) recordings show that the maximum temperature at Safdarjung weather station, which is the official marker for the city, was 33.2 degrees Celsius, eight degrees above the season’s normal. The minimum temperature also touched 13.4 degrees Celsius, a notch above what is considered normal for this time of the year.

On Wednesday, the maximum temperature was 32.5 degrees Celsius, seven degrees above the season’s normal and the minimum temperature was 12 degrees Celsius.

Before this, in 2018 and 2017, the day time temperatures had crossed the 32 degrees Celsius mark. On February 23, 2018, the maximum temperature was 32 degrees Celsius, while on February 21, 2017, the maximum temperature had touched 32.4 degrees Celsius. According to IMD, this was the warmest February day in at least the last 15 years. The warmest February day was recorded in 2006, when the day time temperature had reached 34.1 degrees Celsius, Met officials said.

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said that the maximum temperatures could rise further on Friday and reach around 34 degrees Celsius. He also said that there is a possibility that this time the record for the highest February temperature is broken.

“The maximum temperature is likely to touch 34 degrees Celsius. Maybe the difference would be of a few points,” Srivastava added.

He also explained that February this year has been recording higher than normal temperatures primarily because of fewer active western disturbances and clear skies; that has led to sunlight reaching the surface uninterrupted.

“Generally, in the month of February we get around six western disturbances, but this year the last time Delhi got an active western disturbance was on February 4,” Srivastava said.