NEW DELHI: Mercury crossed the 41-degree mark in parts of Delhi on Tuesday, with Palam sizzling at a maximum of 41.2 degrees Celsius, the highest so far this season. Safdarjung, Delhi’s base station for weather, also recorded its highest temperature of the season at 39.7 degrees Celsius, Met officials said.
Forecasts for the next 48 hours show temperature may spike even further and touch the 40-degree mark at Safdarjung by Thursday. Dust transport might occur during this period, pushing air quality close to the ‘poor’ range’.
IMD scientist Kuldeep Srivastava said the maximum temperature is likely to stay around the same range on Wednesday, while it could touch 40 degrees at Safdarjung on Thursday. “We will see the maximum hover between 39 and 40 degrees Celsius in the next two days. We are recording dry and warm winds from the Rajasthan region which is leading to this spike. Clear skies are also pushing the mercury up,” said Srivastava.
While Palam recorded a high of 41.2 degrees Celsius, Ayanagar too crossed the 40-degree mark on Tuesday, recording a maximum of 40.4 degrees– four notches above normal.
Delhi’s air quality index, meanwhile, was recorded as ‘moderate’ on Tuesday with an overall AQI of 130 – the highest so far this week. A spokesperson from the Ministry of environment, forest and climate change said long-range dust transport and lifting of local dust are likely to raise the AQI further in the next 48 hours.
“The SAFAR model suggests that lifting of local Delhi dust will deteriorate AQI further by Wednesday. Though chance for any heavy dust storm is remote, long-range dust transport from the dry arid western region is expected by Wednesday to further deteriorate AQI towards the lower end poor category with lead pollutant as PM10 and not PM2.5. This impact is purely attributed to external natural dust and has nothing to do with local emissions,” said the official.
As per IMD, Wednesday may witness a maximum temperature of 39 degrees Celsius, while the minimum is likely to hover around 23 degrees.
Forecasts for the next 48 hours show temperature may spike even further and touch the 40-degree mark at Safdarjung by Thursday. Dust transport might occur during this period, pushing air quality close to the ‘poor’ range’.
IMD scientist Kuldeep Srivastava said the maximum temperature is likely to stay around the same range on Wednesday, while it could touch 40 degrees at Safdarjung on Thursday. “We will see the maximum hover between 39 and 40 degrees Celsius in the next two days. We are recording dry and warm winds from the Rajasthan region which is leading to this spike. Clear skies are also pushing the mercury up,” said Srivastava.
While Palam recorded a high of 41.2 degrees Celsius, Ayanagar too crossed the 40-degree mark on Tuesday, recording a maximum of 40.4 degrees– four notches above normal.
Delhi’s air quality index, meanwhile, was recorded as ‘moderate’ on Tuesday with an overall AQI of 130 – the highest so far this week. A spokesperson from the Ministry of environment, forest and climate change said long-range dust transport and lifting of local dust are likely to raise the AQI further in the next 48 hours.
“The SAFAR model suggests that lifting of local Delhi dust will deteriorate AQI further by Wednesday. Though chance for any heavy dust storm is remote, long-range dust transport from the dry arid western region is expected by Wednesday to further deteriorate AQI towards the lower end poor category with lead pollutant as PM10 and not PM2.5. This impact is purely attributed to external natural dust and has nothing to do with local emissions,” said the official.
As per IMD, Wednesday may witness a maximum temperature of 39 degrees Celsius, while the minimum is likely to hover around 23 degrees.
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