Delhi’s maximum temperature likely to touch 35 degrees Celsius today; hotter days ahead

Relative humidity at 8.30 am on Saturday was 56 per cent, lower than the 69 per cent recorded at the same time on Friday. Strong surface winds are on the forecast for Saturday.

The maximum temperature could increase over the next six days, touching 37 degrees Celsius on March 28. It is likely to rise further to around 38 degrees on March 29. Clear skies and sunny days are on the forecast from March 28 to April 1.

An IMD forecast bulletin issued on Saturday morning indicates that heat wave conditions are likely over parts of south Haryana, western Rajasthan, and western Madhya Pradesh from March 28 to 30.

In keeping with a recent spell of above normal temperatures, on Friday, maximum temperatures remained 5.1 degrees or more above normal at several places in northwest India, including parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and western Rajasthan.

On Friday, the AQI was 211, in the ‘poor’ category. The air quality is likely to remain in the ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’ category on Saturday, going by a forecast issued by the Air Quality Early Warning System on Friday. The warning system identifies dust and PM10 as the prominent pollutants. “Dust raising winds are likely over parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat and transport of dust from these regions as well as local dust will impact air quality over northwest India,” the forecast stated on Friday. The AQI has remained in the ’poor’ category since March 23.

Most monitoring stations in Delhi recorded 24-hour average AQI in the ‘poor’ or ‘moderate’ categories at 9 am on Saturday.