Mercury to spike in Delhi warns IMD, no respite expected before March-end

Delhi had recorded 35.7°C on Saturday, making it the earliest the mercury has crossed the 35°C mark in at least 15 years.

An early spell of summer gripped the Capital on Sunday, with a maximum temperature of 35.6°C, about 7.2°C above normal for early March, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned that temperatures will remain 5–8°C above average through the coming week.

Visitors shield themselves from the scorching at Rajghat amid rising temperatures in New Delhi on Sunday. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

Delhi had recorded 35.7°C on Saturday, making it the earliest the mercury has crossed the 35°C mark in at least 15 years, according to IMD data available since 2011. It was as high as 38.9°C in north Delhi’s Ridge station on Sunday, 10 notches above normal.

The IMD said daytime temperatures may hover between 36 and 39°C until March 11, before a marginal dip to around 34-35°C by March 14 as a western disturbance begins impacting the western Himalayan region from March 9 onwards. While rainfall is not expected in the plains, the system may bring partially cloudy skies and a slight drop in temperature later in the week.

“We are witnessing clear skies for a sustained period now, and the last active western disturbance to bring substantial rain in Delhi was towards the end of January. Mercury will keep rising steadily in the next couple of days, but with a western disturbance approaching the hills, we may see some fresh snowfall and rain up there, with the plains to see a marginal cooling effect after that, mainly due to clouding,” said IMD senior scientist RK Jenamani, adding that temperatures will still remain around 35-37°C.

Temperatures have been rising steadily since the start of the month. The maximum was 30.7°C on March 1, 31.5°C on March 3, 33.2°C on March 4, 34.4°C on March 6 and 35.7°C on March 7.

The long period average (LPA) indicates that the normal maximum temperature for March 1 is 26.1°C, for March 2 to 6 it is 27.4°C, and for March 7 to 11 it stands at 28.4°C.

The city’s minimum temperature on Sunday was recorded at 16.7°C, about three degrees above normal and marginally lower than Saturday’s minimum of 17.4°C. The minimum temperature had also sharply deviated from normal on Thursday, touching 18.2°C with a deviation of nearly 5°C.

Forecasts indicate nights will continue to remain warm, with minimum temperatures expected to stay between 15 and 18°C until the weekend.

IMD data also shows the maximum temperature in Delhi can reach 38-39°C by the end of March and may even touch 40°C. The all-time highest temperature for March was 40.6°C, recorded on March 31, 1945. In the past 15 years, the highest maximum was 40.1°C, recorded on March 30, 2021. Last year, the highest temperature in March was 38.9°C on March 26, while in 2024 it was 37.8°C on March 29.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the “poor” category. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 247 at 4pm on Sunday, marginally higher than the 246 recorded at the same time on Saturday.

Forecasts from the centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) indicate that the AQI is likely to fluctuate between the “poor” and “moderate” categories in the coming days.

“The air quality is likely to be in the ‘moderate’ category on March 9, to be in the ‘poor’ category on March 10 and in the ‘moderate’ category again on March 11,” the EWS said in its daily bulletin on Sunday.