Day temperature rises to 30° Celsius in Gurugram on Saturday

The day temperature is expected to rise further by at least two to three degrees Celsius the coming week, IMD scientists said.

The day temperature on Saturday touched 30 degrees Celsius for the first time this year, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). It, however, rose minimally from Friday’s maximum temperature of 29.3 degrees Celsius.

The day temperature on Saturday touched 30 degrees Celsius for the first time this year, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). (Yogendra Kumar/HT File PHOTO)

The day temperature is expected to rise further by at least two to three degrees Celsius the coming week, IMD scientists said. “The maximum temperature on Sunday is expected to increase to 31 degrees Celsius and further to around 33 degrees Celsius on Tuesday,” an IMD spokesperson said. He added that it could touch 40 degrees Celsius in the first week of April.

The minimum temperature is also expected to rise to around 18 degrees Celsius this week. The minimum temperature on Saturday was 16.5 degrees Celsius – a rise of about a degree from Friday’s minimum temperature.

However, according to the IMD’s forecast, light, isolated rainfall is likely to occur over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the influence of a feeble western disturbance.

There have been more than 18 western disturbances this winter, which are likely to end in March, compared to around five or six on an average per season.

Meanwhile, Gurugram recorded a score of 103 (moderate) on the Central Pollution Control Board’s air quality index (AQI), as per the AQI monitor at Vikas Sadan in Sector 11. The air quality marginally deteriorated from Friday, on which a score of 96 (satisfactory) was recorded on the AQI.

Experts said that the air quality was considerably better on Friday and Saturday, compared to Thursday, on which the AQI score was 255 (poor), due to meteorological factors such as high wind speed and rising minimum temperature.

The wind speed, as recorded by the Palam Observatory, on Saturday was 20 kmph.

The level of finer particulate matter (PM 2.5) in the atmosphere on Saturday was recorded at 71mg/u3, against a safe limit of 60 mg/u3.