Delhi records highest maximum temperature in 26 days, may fall this week: Met
IMD’s forecasts show Delhi’s maximum temperature is expected to drop to around 26 degrees Celsius by Tuesday and 25 degrees Celsius by Wednesday. It will touch the 24 degrees Celsius mark by Friday, forecasts show.
Delhi recorded a relatively warm Sunday, with the maximum temperature settling at 28.4 degrees Celsius – four degrees above normal for this time of the year, and the highest temperature recorded since November 15 (29.5 degrees Celsius).
The day was sunny with the Capital largely reeling under the impact of a western disturbance, which is expected to bring cold northwesterly winds once again from Monday, leading to a gradual drop in both maximum and minimum temperature, officials said.
“A western disturbance was influencing the northern plains from December 9 onwards and during such a spell, there is a change in wind direction. Once the western disturbance departs, cold northwesterly winds resume and the wind chill factor returns,” said a Met official, stating this effect will be seen in the National Capital Region gradually from Monday.
The Capital recorded a minimum of 8.8 degrees Celsius on Sunday, which is around normal for this time of the year. However, this is comparatively warmer than what Delhi saw at the end of November, when the minimum dropped to as low as 7.3 degrees Celsius on November 29. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a warmer than normal winter for north India this year with both maximum and minimum expected to be largely above the normal range.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet meteorology, says a strong western disturbance is still missing this winter – one that can lead to significant snowfall in the mountains. “This in turn leads to low temperatures in the plains, too, but so far we are yet to see much snowfall. Normally, we see one to two strong spells in November and the intensity increases further in December,” he said, adding that while this spell did not bring much snow, cold northwesterly winds will gradually reduce temperature over the next three days.
IMD’s forecasts show Delhi’s maximum temperature is expected to drop to around 26 degrees Celsius by Tuesday and 25 degrees Celsius by Wednesday. It will touch the 24 degrees Celsius mark by Friday, forecasts show. That will still be above normal for this time of the year with the normal average maximum for December 12-16 being 23.2 degrees Celsius.
Delhi’s minimum temperature is expected to remain around 9 degrees Celsius until Tuesday, before gradually falling to 8 degrees Celsius by Wednesday and 7 degrees Celsius by Friday.
The withdrawal of the western disturbance meant wind speeds once again picked up in the region, leading to an improvement in the air quality index (AQI). Delhi’s AQI was recorded at 306 (very poor) on Sunday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s national bulletin released at 4pm. It was 360 (very poor) on Saturday. Forecasts show the AQI will improve further in the next three days.
“Delhi’s air quality is likely to improve further due to relatively strong winds and better ventilation conditions and will reach the ‘poor’ category on December 12, where it will remain on December 13 and 14 as well,” said the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi, a forecasting model used by the ministry of earth sciences.