Delhi: Mercury may soar to 40°C by Tuesday, says IMD

Maximum temperature usually crosses 40-degree mark by April 15 — it has been delayed as western disturbances impacting the region have kept mercury under check.

The daytime temperature is set to touch 40 degrees Celsius (°C) on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department said on Saturday, indicating the arrival of a proper summer day in the Capital.

Silhouette of a man drinking water from a bottle during a hot summer day near India Gate in New Delhi on Saturday. (Raj K Raj/ HT Photo)

The maximum temperature usually crosses the 40-degree mark by April 15. This has been delayed as back-to-back western disturbances impacting the northwest region have kept the mercury under check. To be sure, parts of the city recorded a high of 40°C on Thursday with several weather stations marking this reading on the scale. However, the scale at Safdarjung, representative of Delhi’s weather, is yet to reach the mark so the Capital has not officially recorded it.

“The maximum is expected to touch 40°C by Tuesday then 41°C by Friday. The minimum is forecast to hover around 24°C and 25°C through next week,” said a Met official.

The highest maximum recorded this season at Safdarjung was 39.4°C on April 12 and then again on April 19.

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The maximum on Saturday dropped by a few notches — and was recorded at 37.2°C — even as strong surface winds continued to course through the city owing to a western disturbance. It was 39.4°C on Friday and 39.2°C on Thursday

“The maximum usually crosses the 40°C mark around April 15 every year. However, the rain last weekend and the surface winds this weekend, both due to western disturbances, have managed to keep the maximum of Delhi below 40°C,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

The minimum temperature on Saturday was 23.3°C, two degrees above normal. It was 24.3°C on Friday. Other weather stations like Pitampura, Pusa and Palam recorded a maximum of 38.7°C, 38.1°C and 37.2°C, respectively, on Saturday. The minimum at these stations were 26.1°C, 23.4°C and 24.2°C, respectively.

Meanwhile, IMD has forecast partly cloudy skies and strong surface winds to continue through Sunday and Monday as well, with the possibility of a drizzle in isolated areas on Monday. The maximum of Delhi is also forecast to touch 40 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

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“Strong surface winds of speed 25-35km/hour might be observed till Monday. Some drizzle might also occur in isolated pockets of Delhi on Monday. Skies will be mainly clear on Tuesday and Wednesday,” said the first official.

The maximum had crossed 40°C on April 15 of last year and in 2022, it reached the mark on April 17.

Delhi’s air quality, meanwhile, deteriorated and the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) recorded a reading of 217 (poor) at 4pm on Saturday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s national bulletin. The AQI was 183 (moderate) at the same time a day before.

Forecasts by the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi — a forecasting model under the ministry of earth sciences — said Delhi’s air quality should remain “moderate” for the next few days.

“The air quality is likely to be in moderate category from April 21 to April 23. The outlook for the subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in moderate category,” said EWS on Saturday.