Temperature close to 40C, brace for hot, dry days ahead

Gurgaon: City’s maximum temperature on Thursday was recorded at 39.2 degrees Celsius. The sky was clear throughout the day and the minimum temperature dipped by 1.1 notches at 24.4 degrees Celsius against Wednesday's 23.3 degrees Celsius.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD, the maximum temperature is likely to touch 42 degrees Celsius by the weekend, while the minimum temperature will hover around 27 to 28 degrees Celsius from Friday onwards.
The city’s air quality index (AQI) dipped to ‘moderate’ at 186 on Thursday, from 311 (very poor) the day before. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR, “The predominant surface wind is likely to be coming from Northwest directions in Delhi-NCR with wind speed of 10-12 kmph and mainly clear skies, and thus the air quality is likely to be in ‘moderate’ category for the next three days.”
Meanwhile, the maximum temperature in the capital on Thursday rose to 39.9 degrees Celsius, which was 1.5 degrees higher than Wednesday’s temperature. IMD has predicted that the day temperature is likely to hover around 41-42 degrees Celsius for the next seven days. There is a possibility of very light rain or drizzle at isolated places on Friday night.
Safdarjung, which is the city’s base station, remained below 40 degrees Celsius. At 42.1 degrees, Sports Complex in CWG village and Pitampura were the hottest stations.
The minimum temperature on Thursday was reported at 23.9 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal. The relative humidity oscillated between 36% and 76%. The day temperature is likely to rise to 41 degrees Celsius on Friday.
IMD’s data shows that the maximum temperature has been staying below 40 degrees Celsius since May 24 at Safdarjung. TOI had reported that this is the first season in a decade when Safdarjung did not witness a single heatwave day. Heatwave conditions usually abate in the Delhi region by June 10.