(HT)
A day after Delhi recorded its hottest day of the season on Saturday, the Capital on Sunday recorded its warmest night in six years, with a minimum temperature of 27.2°C, which was three degrees above normal and the highest in April since 2019, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The last time the minimum temperature was higher was on April 25, 2019, when it was 28°C.
IMD forecasted a marginal temperature dip in the short term, predicting winds of 15-20kmph to hit the Capital. It issued yellow alerts for Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, forecasting gusty winds of 50kmph speed and a drizzle.
“We had clear skies over the last few days, which made days warm; subsequently, night-time temperature has risen too. However, cloudiness, particularly towards the night, and a return of moisture-laden easterly winds will lead to a drop in the maximum temperature by 1-2°C,” an IMD official said.
The maximum temperature on Sunday, meanwhile, was 41.3°C, which was two degrees above normal. Saturday’s maximum temperature of 42.1°C, the highest so far this season, was also the highest maximum for April in three years, since 43.5°C was recorded on April 30, 2022.
The maximum temperature is forecast to be between 40°C and 42°C on Monday, before marginally dipping and hovering in the 38-40°C range on Tuesday.
IMD data also showed the minimum temperature rose by 6.5°C in the past 24 hours. It was 20.7°C on Saturday.
Another fairly warm night is likely on Monday, with the minimum to be between 25°C and 27°C.
“We had extreme surface heating on Saturday, which made for a high maximum temperature. With cloudy skies at night, however, we also had this surface heat not escaping sufficiently at night,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet.
So far, only 0.7mm of rainfall has been recorded this April, well below the long-period average (LPA) of 16.3mm. Last month, Delhi received 1.8mm of rainfall, which was a deficit of 90% in comparison to the LPA of 17.4mm.
Delhi’s air quality, meanwhile, remained in the “poor” category for a seventh consecutive day. The average air quality index (AQI) was 246 (“poor”) at 4pm on Sunday. It was 247 (“poor”) a day earlier.
Forecasts by the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi predicted the AQI to remain “poor” until Tuesday and then improve to “moderate” on Wednesday. “The outlook for the subsequent six days shows the air quality is likely to be between ‘moderate’ and ‘poor’ categories,” the EWS said in its daily bulletin.
