Mercury at 31°C, Gurugram records its hottest February day since 2012

GURUGRAM: A spell of light rain in parts of northern Haryana and Punjab on Saturday is likely to halt the city’s rising mercury levels, Met officials predict. In fact, temperatures may drop by at least four notches in the next couple of days after hovering around 31 degrees Celsius for three days in a row. However, mercury will rise again from Wednesday.
Officials at Regional Weather Forecasting Centre told TOI on Friday the current weather trend in February is the hottest in six years as temperatures have never crossed 30 degrees since 2012.

“The current trend in Gurugram or elsewhere in NCR is due to an approaching western disturbance which is likely to hit on Saturday. NCR is not going to get any rains though we are expecting showers in Punjab and northern Haryana. Also there is likely to be snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” said an official.

“However, after the precipitation happens, we expect temperatures to cool down in plains. The winds from the northern areas will mellow down the rising mercury but only for one or two days. The warmer trend will pick up Wednesday onwards owning to a fresh western disturbance that is likely to affect the region on March 1 and 2,” he added.

Officials said whenever a western disturbance makes headway into the northern areas, temperatures show an upward trend in the plains.

“In the past five to six years, this is the first time that the warmer trend has persisted so long. For instance, if we check the maximum temperatures of the corresponding date i.e., February 23 from 2012 till now, we realise that this year the trend is the hottest. In year 2012, we recorded 30 degrees, 27 degrees in 2013, 22 degrees in 2014, 29 degrees in 2015, 28 degrees in 2016, 27 degrees in 2017 and 31 degrees in 2018,” said another official. “Strange thing is that such high temperatures persisted for two to three days at a stretch. We did record maximum temperature of 32 degrees in February last year, but it was a short blip,” he added.

Met officials also said that maximum temperatures will reflect variations till Holi after which they will rise invariably. “After new western disturbance, which is going to affect the region on March 1, temperatures will come down again,” said the official.