New Delhi: Delhi’s daytime temperature continued its upward climb on Sunday, edging closer to 30 degrees Celsius. It is predicted to rise further by two-three degrees and may touch 33 degrees Celsius on Feb 27 and 28.If the day temperature reaches 33, it would be early summer-like conditions in Feb. In the past 15 years, the mercury crossed 33 degrees only twice in Feb — 33.6 degrees Celsius on Feb 21, 2023, and 33.2 degrees Celsius on Feb 26, 2021. The all-time Feb high of 34.1 degrees Celsius was recorded in 2006, India Meteorological Department data shows. The maximum temperature on Sunday settled at 29.7 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal, up from 28.1 degrees Celsius recorded a day earlier. “The maximum temperature is likely to be appreciably above normal (3.1 degrees to 5.1 degrees Celsius) in the next seven days. It may even stay five degrees or more higher than normal during this period on some days,” an IMD official said. According to IMD, clear skies and the absence of any active western disturbance are driving the steady rise. “Clear skies are likely to prevail in the remaining days of the month too. It would lead to maximum hours of sunshine, causing the day temperatures to remain higher than normal,” the official said. In Feb so far, the highest maximum recorded this month was 31.6 degrees Celsius, seven degrees above normal, on Feb 16. This was also the earliest instance of the temperature crossing 30 degrees Celsius in Feb in the past five years. TOI earlier reported that the city mostly recorded above-normal temperatures since the beginning of this month. The mercury significantly dipped twice when weak western disturbances caused very light rain and overcast skies — Feb 2 at 17.5 degrees Celsius and Feb 18 at 21.1 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature stood at 12 degrees Celsius on Sunday, which was close to normal. It is expected to range between 13 degrees Celsius and 15 degrees Celsius on Monday and 14 degrees Celsius to 16 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. Air quality, meanwhile, remained in the poor category. The Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 229 on Sunday, as against 213 on Saturday.According to the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, which functions under the Union ministry of earth sciences, air quality is likely to remain poor till Feb 25, and may fluctuate between poor and moderate in the subsequent six days.
