Uptick in Delhi’s maximum temperature in coming days: IMD

Mercury to rise by 2-3°C in Delhi over the next 5 days, reaching 33°C by Friday as summer sets in across north India, says IMD.

Mercury may rise by 2-3°C at most places across the Capital over the next five days as summer has begun making inroads across north India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 11.9 °C on Sunday, which was five degrees below normal for this time of the year. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

According to IMD, Delhi’s maximum temperature could spike to 33 degrees Celsius (°C) by Friday. The minimum temperature was recorded at 11.9 °C on Sunday, which was five degrees below normal for this time of the year. It was 10.1°C on Saturday and 13.9°C on Friday.

Both maximum and minimum temperatures had dipped marginally in the last 48 hours, owing to the strong surface winds sweeping the region. IMD said despite clear skies in Delhi, there was a dip in temperature after fresh snowfall in the upper parts of the Himalayas on March 15. The snowfall impacted the plains too with northwesterly winds blowing towards Delhi-NCR. IMD has forecast the minimum to rise again in the next few days, touching 13°C by Monday, 14°C by Thursday and 15°C by Friday.

“The slight dip in temperature over the last two days was down to strong surface winds of 30-35 km/hour. With fresh snowfall recorded during the last western disturbance on March 14 and 15, we saw cool northwesterly winds again bringing a slight cooling effect to the plains. This temporary impact is reducing and we expect clear skies to continue for the next seven days and plains to heat up again,” said an IMD official.

Read Here: IMD predicts rise in maximum temperature by 2-4 °C from next week

Delhi’s maximum temperature was recorded at 30.8°C on Sunday, a degree below normal. The maximum was 30.3°C on Saturday and 28.4°C on Friday. With clear skies persisting, the maximum is forecast to touch 32°C by Tuesday and could touch 33°C by Friday, IMD said.

The highest maximum recorded so far this March has been 31.4°C, which was recorded on both March 11 and March 13.

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, touched 40.1°C on March 30. In 2020, the highest maximum in March was 33.3°C (March 26) and it was 39.2°C in 2019 (March 31).

The Met department said that day temperatures will likely increase by 2-4 degrees over northwest India as well, including Haryana and Punjab in the next 4-5 days. Maximum or day temperatures are below normal by 2-3 degrees over many parts of the country except some areas of J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab, among other areas, where these are near normal. But, now there will be a gradual shift towards hot weather, IMD has said.

“No major weather activity is expected over northwest India now. This will lead to both rise in day and night time temperatures. Max will reach around 33°C over say Delhi next week and rise further thereafter,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president, climate and met at Skymet Weather.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air remained “moderate”, but deteriorated marginally in the last 24 hours. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) recorded a reading of 193 (moderate) at 4pm on Sunday. It was 167 (moderate) at the same time on Saturday at 4pm. Forecasts by the Centre’s Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi showed the AQI is likely to stay “moderate” till Wednesday.