Delhi’s sunny afternoons have got consistently warmer over the past couple of weeks, heralding the imminent arrival of summer, but the winter has refused to completely relinquish its grip on the evenings, which have remained unusually cool for late March, shows data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), illustrating a relatively wide gulf between the maximum and minimum temperatures, at odds for this time of the year.
The city on Wednesday clocked a maximum temperature of 33.6°C, the highest yet this year and two degrees above normal. The minimum, in contrast, was 13.7°C, three below normal, though marginally higher than 12.2°C a day ago.
With this, the maximum temperature has been normal or above normal for 10 days so far this month, even as the minimum has been below normal for 18 days, showed IMD data.
The minimum temperature on Monday was 12.2°C, four degrees below normal for this time of the year. It was 11.9°C on Sunday, 10.1°C on Saturday and 13.9°C on Friday.
Analysts attributed this divergence to the impact of two western disturbances earlier this month that brought the Himalayas snowfall, with the northwesterly winds sweeping this chill into the plains and clearing the skies of clouds.
Mahesh Palawat, vice-president at private forecaster Skymet Meteorology said this has been an unusual March not just for Delhi, but other parts of the northern plains too.
“This was predominantly because of the two active western disturbances. In such a scenario, northwesterly winds are colder than usual and can particularly lead to a drop in night-time temperatures,” he said.
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Palawat added that clear skies make the days warmer but evenings cooler
“Ample sunshine can hit the surface during the day when the skies are clear. But at night, the clear skies allow heat to escape and the surface to cool rapidly,” said Palawat.
This variance is, however, likely to narrow soon, with IMD forecasting warmer days and warmer nights soon.
“Delhi is recording a gradual rise in temperatures in the absence of any active weather system and with clear skies now dominating large parts of the northern plains. The maximum should hover around 34°C till Tuesday and the minimum is likely to touch 16°C,” said an IMD official.
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Temperatures usually trend upwards sharply in March.
Last March, the highest maximum recorded was 34.3°C (on March 16). In 2022, this was 39.6°C on March 31 and in 2021, it touched 40.1°C (March 30). In 2020, the highest maximum in March was 33.3°C (March 26) and the year before that, it was 39.2°C (March 31).
The minimum also generally crosses the 20°C in March.
Last March, the highest minimum recorded in the month was 20.6°C (March 16). It was 22.5°C in 2022 (March 22); 21.5°C in 2021 (March 23) and 19.6°C in 2020 (March 27).
So far, the highest minimum has been 14.6°C, which was recorded on March 14. IMD’s forecast till March 24 shows the minimum is likely to reach around 15°C, hovering below that mark until then.
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