City set to become hotter after Holi, says Met department

According to weather experts, as minimum temperatures are also likely to rise, nights will start getting warmer from this week onwards

The city is all set to become hotter after the festival of colours as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicted that the maximum temperature may notch up to 38 degrees Celsius after Holi.

On Monday, Gurugram recorded a maximum temperature of 33.5°C and a minimum of 16.2°C. The maximum temperature is set to reach 38°C after Holi on March 18. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

On Monday, Gurugram recorded a maximum temperature of 33.5°C, four degrees above normal and a minimum of 16.2°C, which was three degrees above normal.

According to the weekly forecast of IMD, the city will witness mainly clear skies over the next seven days. Both the minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to rise by four degrees. While the minimum temperature is likely to hover around 20°C on Thursday, the maximum temperature will increase to 38°C by Sunday, said the IMD.

“During the next three days, there will be a gradual rise in maximum temperatures by two to three degrees and there will be no change in the mercury levels thereafter,” said a senior official from Meteorological Centre Chandigarh, a regional centre of IMD.

“As minimum temperatures are also likely to rise, it means that the nights will start getting warmer from this week onwards. Strong surface winds in the range of 25-35 kilometres per hour are likely to prevail over the state on March 16,” said the official.

Meanwhile, with an AQI of 252, the air quality in the city dipped to the ‘poor’ category on Monday compared to the AQI reading of 196 (moderate) recorded on Sunday, showed the air quality index (AQI) bulletin of the Central Pollution Control Board.

According to the weather bulletin issued by Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, the air quality over the national capital territory is likely to remain in moderate category on Tuesday to Wednesday. Over the next seven days, the air quality is likely to remain largely in moderate category till Thursday and deteriorate on Friday and Saturday to reach in poor category due to poor ventilation conditions but again improve thereafter.

Over the next few days, the ventilation index over the region is likely to increase from 7,500 m2/s on Monday and reach 28,700 m2/s on Wednesday. Ventilation index is a measure of air pollution based on the speed of the wind and the height of the column of air in which smoke or other pollutants mix. Experts say a ventilation index lower than 6,000 m2/s with average wind speed less than 10 kmph is unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants.