After rain brings brief respite, temperature in Delhi set to rise again next week

The maximum temperature on Friday was 36.7 degrees Celsius, a degree below normal for this time of the year. It is likely to settle at around 37 degrees Celsius over the weekend, before rising further to 39 degrees by April 25 and 40 degrees Celsius by April 26.

The normal maximum temperature, calculated as a long-period average, for April 22 to 25 is 37.7 degrees Celsius, going by the IMD data.

The minimum temperature, usually recorded in the early hours, is also set to rise to 23 degrees Celsius next week from a below-normal figure of 20.6 degrees recorded early on Saturday.

An IMD bulletin issued on Saturday said no significant changes are expected in maximum temperatures over northwest India over the next two days, while it is likely to rise by two to four degrees thereafter.

So far this month, the city’s base weather station at Safdarjung has recorded 20.1 mm of rainfall, an excess of 69 per cent over the normal of 11.9 mm till April 22. This month, rainfall was brought to the plains of northwest India by western disturbances.

Rainfall in March and earlier this month has meant that the Safdarjung weather station has not recorded heatwave conditions so far this summer. Among the observatories in the city, the one at the Ridge near Delhi University has recorded heatwave conditions last week, with maximum temperatures remaining above normal.

Last year in April, Safdarjung recorded nine heatwave days, IMD data shows, with the highest maximum temperature being 43.5 degrees Celsius.