Capital logs hottest first week of March in 50 years

In an unusually hot start to March, Delhi on Saturday recorded a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius, the highest reading logged in the first week of the month in the past 50 years, an IMD official told PTI.

According to weather data from the past 50 years, earlier the highest maximum temperature reading during the first seven days of March at Safdarjung, the city’s base weather station, was 34.8 degrees Celsius logged on March 5, 1999.

With the mercury touching 35.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday, it is now the hottest day in the first week of March during the 50-year-period, the IMD official said.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) data 2011 onwards shows that the second-highest temperature reading during the first week of March was recorded in 2016, when the mercury settled at 33.6 degrees Celsius on March 4.

Meanwhile, the city’s air quality deteriorated sharply on Saturday. The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 246 (poor) at 4 pm, compared with 170 (‘moderate’) recorded at the same time a day earlier, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The deterioration comes after three consecutive days of ‘moderate’ air quality. Forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System indicate that the AQI is likely to improve to the ‘moderate’ category over the next two days before worsening again on Tuesday.

According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.

Safdarjung, the city’s primary weather station, recorded a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday, 7.3 degrees above normal, and a minimum of 17.4 degrees Celsius, 3.4 notches above normal.

Only one week into the month and the average maximum temperature so far stands around 33 degrees Celsius and the average minimum at 16.3 degrees Celsius, the highest since 2022, IMD data showed.

In 2022, the average maximum temperature for March was 33.4 degrees Celsius, while the average minimum was at 17.6 degrees Celsius.

The all-time highest temperature recorded in March in Delhi remains 40.6 degrees Celsius, logged on March 31, 1945.

At Palam, the maximum temperature was 33.4 degrees Celsius, 4.6 notches above normal, while the minimum settled at 18.3 degrees Celsius, 4 degrees above normal.

The Lodhi Road station recorded a maximum of 35.8 degrees Celsius, 7.8 notches above normal, and a minimum of 17.6 degrees Celsius, 4.6 notches above normal.

At the Ridge station, the maximum temperature reached 36.4 degrees Celsius, 7 notches above normal, while the minimum was 19.1 degrees Celsius, 3.9 notches above normal.

Ayanagar recorded a maximum temperature of 36.1 degrees Celsius, 7.3 notches above normal, while the minimum settled at 17.3 degrees Celsius, 4.1 notches above normal. No rainfall was recorded across these stations during the 24-hour period on Saturday, the IMD said.