Mercury dips slightly, rain relief likely soon

On Friday Delhi’s maximum was recorded at 34.5 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal.

A day after Delhi recorded the highest maximum temperature of the season, at 35.3 degrees Celsius, the mercury levels fell slightly to settle at 34.5 degrees Celsius on Friday.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientists said there is a forecast of light rain in the city from March 22 to March 24, which would bring some relief from the rising temperatures. (Arvind Yadav/ Hindustan Times)

India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientists said there is a forecast of light rain in the city from March 22 to March 24, which would bring some relief from the rising temperatures.

On Friday, too, Delhi’s maximum temperature at the Safdarjung weather station, which is considered the official marker for the city, was 34.5 degrees Celsius, four degrees above the season’s normal. The minimum temperature at the observatory was 19.4 degrees Celsius, three degrees above what is considered normal for this time of the year. .

A senior Met official said on Saturday, the maximum temperature is expected to be around 34-35 degrees Celsius. However, from March 22, there is a possibility of a brief respite from the heat.

“We are expecting an intense western disturbance so there is likely to be widespread rains over northwest India. In Delhi its likely to rain from March 21 night or March 22 early morning. There may be light rain or drizzle on March 23 also. Till March 27 temperatures are likely to remain relatively low and pleasant. There is likely to be heavy rain and hailstorm in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir during the period. There is likely to be rain and thunderstorms over Punjab and Haryana also,” said Kuldeep Shrivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre.

A western disturbance is an extratropical storm that originates in the Mediterranean, which brings with it rain and a drop in temperature. It is mostly associated with winter rain in India. In the week between March 24 to 31, due to absence of any active western disturbance, rainfall activity is likely to be below normal over northern parts of the country, IMD said in its two-week forecast.

“The western disturbance impacting Delhi-NCR will bring down the temperature marginally. The wind speed on March 23 and March 24 is expected to rise to around 40kmph, which will also help pull down the mercury levels,” the official said.

This is the fifth western disturbance to pass over the region this month. The last time the city received rain and thunderstorm was on March 12, when the city woke up to light to moderate showers, with hailstorm in parts of NCR.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality improved from the "very poor” to the ”poor” category on Friday. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recordings show that the overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi on Friday was 279, which was a marginal improvement from Thursday’s 315, categorised as “very poor” on the AQI scale.

IMD officials said with the wind speeds expected to improve next week, the pollution levels will also decrease.