Mercury crosses 30°C in Delhi on sunny, balmy day

Mercury crossed 30°C in Delhi for the first time this year, with a maximum of 31.4°C recorded. IMD predicts gusty winds and possible drizzle in NCR. AQI deteriorating.

For the first time this year, mercury crossed 30 degrees Celsius (°C) on Monday, making for a warm and sunny day across the city. Safdarjung, representational of Delhi’s weather, recorded a maximum temperature of 31.4°C, which was three degrees above normal for this time of the year. A day earlier, the Capital’s maximum was 28.4°C. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said mercury should remain around 31-32°C till Wednesday, before dipping again on Thursday, as a western disturbance will start influencing the region.

Last year, the maximum temperature crossed 30°C for the first time on February 19. (HT File)

IMD has predicted gusty winds up to 35 km/hour on Wednesday, with isolated parts of Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) receiving a drizzle.

“Until last week, we were seeing the impact of cold northwesterly winds, following fresh snowfall in the first week of March in the mountains. That impact has now faded and with clear skies dominating northwest India, temperatures are on the rise once more. There are chances of a drizzle in parts of NCR on Wednesday, which may again lead to some snowfall in parts of Himalayas and the maximum could drop from Thursday again,” said an IMD official.

Until Monday, Delhi’s maximum stayed below 30°C, and the highest maximum recorded so far this year was 29.6°C on March 1. It dipped to 23.4°C on March 5, when cold northwesterly winds began to blow across large parts of northwest India.

Last year, mercury crossed the 30°C for the first time on February 19, when it was 31.5°C. The same phenomenon was recorded on March 7 in 2022, when it was 30.6°C. In 2021 again, this happened much earlier as the maximum was 30.4°C on February 10. In 2020 and 2019, this happened in the third week of March – on March 19, when the maximum touched 30.7°C and 32.0°C respectively.

In March last year, the highest maximum recorded was 34.3°C on March 16. In 2022, it went up to 39.6°C on March 31 and in 2021, it touched 40.1°C on March 30. In 2020, the highest maximum in the month of March was 33.3°C (March 26) and it was 39.2°C in 2019 (March 31).

In terms of air quality, Delhi’s air remained “moderate”, but deteriorated in the last 24 hours. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 200 (moderate) at 4 pm on Monday. It was 182 (moderate) at the same time on Sunday.

Forecasts by the Centre’s Early Warning System for Delhi, shows the AQI is likely to touch the “poor” category on Tuesday, before improving to moderate once more on Wednesday.