Weekend rain may block mercury’s march to 30°C

IMD said the first western disturbance will influence the city between February 25 and 26, bringing light rain, and the second will hit the capital on February 28, but it is unlikely to cause rain.

Light rain over the weekend is likely to keep the maximum temperature from soaring to 30 degrees Celsius (°C), the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday, and added that two western disturbances will hit the city between February 25 and 28.

Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 24.8°C on Wednesday – which is around the normal mark for this time of the season, Met officials said. (ANI file photo)

IMD said the first western disturbance will influence the city between February 25 and 26, bringing light rain, and the second will hit the capital on February 28, but it is unlikely to cause rain.

“It is unlikely that Delhi’s maximum temperature will cross the 27-degree mark. February may not have seen much rain, but with these two western disturbances, the month could record around eight western disturbances that have kept the maximum temperature under control, and prevented any sharp spike in the mercury levels,” said RK Jenamani, scientist at IMD.

A western disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent

Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 24.8°C on Wednesday – which is around the normal mark for this time of the season, Met officials said. The minimum temperature was recorded at 15°C, four notches above normal.

Najafgarh was Delhi’s warmest location on Wednesday with a maximum temperature of 25.7°C. Pitampura recorded the highest minimum temperature at 17.9°C, according to IMD data.

IMD officials said the maximum temperature in the city is expected to remain around 27 degrees over the next two days, and the minimum will hover around 13-14 degrees.

Despite recording multiple western disturbances, Delhi has only recorded three rainy days in the month so far – February 2 (0.6mm), 3 (1.3mm) and 9 (16.7mm), taking the monthly total to 18.6mm. The normal rainfall mark for February is 18mm. In comparison, Delhi recorded just 2.6mm of rainfall last February. “Delhi has already exceeded the normal rainfall mark in January and now February. Some more rain is likely to be added over the weekend,” Jenamani said.

Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) improved on Wednesday, dropping to a reading of 211 (poor) compared to Tuesday’s 252 (poor). This was predominantly because of the gusty winds since Tuesday evening. Wind speeds crossed the 40 km/hr mark on Tuesday, which while raising dust, led to an improvement in AQI in the last 24 hours, IMD said. Pollution forecasting agencies have predicted the air quality to remain in the ‘poor’ range over the next two days now.

“Relatively low wind speed on Wednesday and Thursday will keep the AQI within the ‘poor’ range due to weak dispersion. It is likely to rain on February 25 and 26, causing wet deposition of pollutants and this will then improve the AQI to the moderate or the lower end of the poor category,” said Safar, a government forecasting agency.