The mercury in the national capital rose to 33.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, making it the hottest day of the year, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
On March 14, Delhi recorded 31.4 degrees Celsius, the second-highest maximum temperature so far this season, IMD data mentioned.
The Pitampura area clocked the maximum temperature at 34.6 degrees Celsius in the city on Wednesday. The minimum temperature was settled at 13.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, compared to 12.2 degrees Celsius a day before.
For today (Thursday), the weather department has predicted a partly cloudy sky with maximum and minimum temperatures likely to settle at 32 and 15 degrees Celsius, respectively. Meanwhile, the Air Quality Index (AQI) remained in the ‘poor’ category with a reading of 229, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Rains in parts of the country
Due to an anti-cyclonic circulation over the Northwest Bay of Bengal, scattered to fairly widespread rainfall with isolated thunderstorms, lightning & gusty winds are predicted over Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha today.
Rainfall activity is also likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Sikkim till March 26.
Isolated light rainfall is likely over Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh for the next few days. As per the MeT department, isolated rainfall is very likely over Telangana, coastal Andhra Pradesh, and Yanam today.
Western disturbance in the Himalayas
A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from the night of March 23. This will bring light rainfall and snowfall over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand from March 21 to 24.
Isolated hailstorms are also very likely over J&K, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh today. Meanwhile, the MeT department has also predicted isolated heavy rainfall and snowfall over Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.