New Delhi: The Capital saw a fairly warm Monday, with a combination of clear skies and warm easterly winds raising Delhi’s maximum temperature to 25.9 degrees Celsius (°C) – 1.9 degrees higher than Sunday’s maximum and five notches above normal — to log the warmest January day in four years.
The last time Delhi recorded a warmer January day was in 2019, at 28.7°C (January 21).
The Capital is likely to see a dip in its maximum temperature again from Tuesday onwards, with India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting cloudy skies and light rain in the morning and evening, while isolated parts may receive a drizzle both on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Delhi is beginning to see the impact of the active western disturbance influencing north India, with warm easterly winds blowing since the morning. A combination of clear skies, which allows the surface to heat up faster, aided by warmer easterly winds led to the maximum rising this high,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD, stating a dip in maximum is now expected, with cloudy skies returning to Delhi.
“During this spell, while not much rain is expected over Delhi, the peak activity will occur on Tuesday when light rain is likely. Cloudy skies will persist on Wednesday and Thursday too, which will lead to the maximum dipping by 2-3 degrees,” he added.
The last time Delhi recorded a higher maximum temperature was on December 13, 2022, at 26.8°C. For January, such a high is rare, as the long-period average shows the maximum temperature varies between 19.4°C and 22.4°C through the month. In January last year, the highest maximum was 23.2°C (January 5). In January 2021, the highest maximum was 22.6°C (January 5) and in 2020, the highest maximum for January was 23.5°C (January 4).
Delhi’s maximum is forecast to be around 24°C on Tuesday, while it will hover around the 22-degree mark on Wednesday and Thursday.
In terms of the minimum temperature, Delhi witnessed a low of 7.6°C, which is around normal for this time of the season, a drop of 0.6 degrees from Sunday. Delhi’s minimum for the next three days will hover between 9°C and 10°C, according to the IMD forecast.
