Delhi’s transition from freezing winters to hot summers has been rather abrupt this year, with the national capital on Saturday recording a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius, the highest reading recorded in the first week of March in the last 50 years.
Safdarjung, Delhi’s main weather station, recorded a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which is 7.3 degrees above normal, and a minimum of 17.4 degrees Celsius, which is 3.4 degrees above normal.
With the temperature reaching 35.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday, it became the hottest day in the first week of March in a period of 50 years, news agency PTI quoted an Indian Meteorological Department official as saying.
Abnormally high temperatures in parts of northern India
Parts of Himachal Pradesh like Sundernagar, Bhuntar Solan and Dharamshala were hit by a heatwave, according to the Meteorological Department, while the maximum temperature in the Himalayan state and other states like Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab was 8 to 12 degrees Celsius above normal.
Likewise, temperatures were 4 to 7 degrees Celsius above normal over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and western parts of Uttar Pradesh.
The night temperature was significantly higher than normal by more than 5 degrees Celsius over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh and was higher than normal by 2-5 degrees Celsius over Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi, the IMD said.
North India forecast
The mercury will hover above normal temperatures for the next three days, according to an IMD press release on March 7. However, people can expect a reprieve as temperatures are expected to drop by 5 to 7 degrees Celsius in the subsequent four days.
While most parts of Jammu and Kashmir continued to experience higher than normal temperatures on Saturday, there was a noticeable drop in daytime temperatures compared to the previous day, PTI reported, citing a Meteorological Department official.
However, conditions are likely to change in the coming days with the Meteorological Department forecasting a spell of wet weather from March 10 to 12 under the influence of an approaching Western Disturbance.
