National capital New Delhi continued to experience rising temperatures on Saturday, with the India Meteorological Department predicting another rise in the coming days.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that minimum temperatures in Delhi will hover around 18-20°C till Sunday and further rise to 20-22°C by Tuesday. The maximum temperatures are expected to hover between 35-37°C till Sunday and could rise to 38-40°C by next Wednesday, PTI reported.
Experts warned of dry winds in the coming days.
The weather service also said gusty winds of 15-25 km/h and occasionally reaching speeds of up to 35 km/h are likely to persist during the day on Sunday.
“Gradual increase in maximum temperatures by 6-7°C during the next 7 days. Prevailing below normal Maximum temperatures are likely to become normal during the next 2 days and then above normal to markedly above normal,” the IMD said in its forecast.
What did the experts say?
Experts said that the increase in temperatures was mainly due to the absence of significant weather activity.
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Heading to X, meteorologist Navdeep Dahiya said: “As the rains are easing now, temperatures are all expected to rise gradually from this weekend. By next week-weekend, many cities will see highs of 42-45C. Delhi and Haryana may report first 40C of the season by April 17-18 to see parts of peninsular moderate.”
“Over the next few days, there will be dry winds as the cooling of northwesterly winds weakens. As there will be continuous clear sunshine with no clouds and no precipitation, the temperature will definitely rise,” HT quoted Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, Skymet Weather.
Weather station in Delhi
At Safdarjung, which serves as the city’s representative weather station, the maximum temperature was recorded at 34.7 degrees Celsius — 1.4 degrees below normal but 1.9 degrees higher than the previous day. The minimum temperature was 18.6°C, which was 2.4 degrees below normal, but still 2.3 degrees higher than the previous day.
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Other stations across the city also reported a noticeable increase in both maximum and minimum temperatures. Palam recorded a maximum of 34.4 degrees Celsius, an increase of 2.6 degrees from Friday, while its minimum temperature reached 19.5 degrees Celsius, an increase of 3.9 degrees. Meanwhile, Lodhi Road recorded a minimum temperature of 17.8 degrees Celsius, reflecting an increase of 2.6 degrees from the previous day.
Air quality in the city improved on Saturday morning. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 123 (median) at 16:00 compared to 151 (median) recorded at the same time a day earlier.
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According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) standards, AQI levels between 0–50 are classified as “good”, 51–100 as “satisfactory”, 101–200 as “moderate”, 201–300 as “poor”, 301–400, “5001” as “very bad”.
The air quality early warning system predicted that air quality would remain in the “moderate” category for the next few days before potentially slipping into the “poor” category.
