At 32.5°C, Capital records its warmest Feb day in 15 years

IMD scientists warn the mercury may soar further in the coming days, cite lack of western disturbances and clear skies as reasons for high temperature

NEW DELHI: Delhi on Wednesday recorded the highest maximum temperature for the month of February since 2006, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) recordings.

On Wednesday, the maximum temperature recorded at the Safdarjung weather station, which is considered the official marker for the city, was 32.5 degrees Celsius, seven degrees above the season’s normal. The minimum temperature was 12 degrees Celsius, a notch above what is considered normal for this time of the year.

Before this, in 2018 and 2017, the day time temperatures had crossed the 32 degrees Celsius mark. On February 23, 2018, the maximum temperature was 32 degrees Celsius, while on February 21, 2017, the maximum temperature had touched 32.4 degrees Celsius.

According to IMD, this was the warmest February day in at least the last 15 years, when the city had recorded day temperature of 34.1 degrees Celsius.

IMD scientists warned that the temperature was likely to soar further in the coming days. Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’S regional weather forecasting centre, said that there is a possibility that the maximum temperature could touch 33-34 degrees Celsius in the next two days. “The temperatures are already hovering in the 31-32 degrees Celsius range, there is definitely a chance that the mercury could rise by a few points and reach 33-34 degrees Celsius. Whether it will break the 2006 record remains to be seen,” Srivastava said.

He also explained that February this year has been recording higher than normal temperatures throughout and this was primarily because of fewer active western disturbances and clear skies; that has led to sunlight hitting the surface uninterrupted.

“Generally, in the month of February we get around six active western disturbances. But this year, Delhi last saw an active western disturbance was on February 4. This prolonged spell without a western disturbance has led to clear skies, causing heating of the ground,” Srivastava said.

Meanwhile, the air quality remained in the ‘poor’ zone on Wednesday. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recordings show that the overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was 278. On Tuesday, the average AQI was 250, also in the ‘poor’ category.

IMD forecast said that there is a possibility of improvement in air quality from February 26, when the AQI is likely to come down to the ‘moderate’ range.

8 out of 10 polluted cities in Delhi: CSE study

Eight out of ten most polluted cities in the country this winter were located in the Delhi-ncr and Uttar Pradesh region, an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) shows.

CSE’S study, which has been released as an extensive analysis of real time data from cities in different regions to throw light on the difference between 2020-21 winter and the previous winters, has identified Delhincr as most polluted cluster.

While Ghaziabad Bulandshahr and Greater Noida topped the list of most polluted cities in this region, Noida and Delhi were not far behind. Kanpur and Lucknow occupied sixth and ninth position on the chart, according to the CSE analysis.

“Winter is a special challenge when inversion, and cool and calm weather traps and spikes daily pollution. While the northern Indo-gangetic Plain is most affected, other regions also experience a rise, but with lesser intensity. But this year even though the average level of PM2.5 during summer and monsoon months was considerably lower than the previous year due to the summer lockdown, the winter PM2.5 (particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres) concentration has risen compared to 2019 winter in many cities across regions,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’S executive director in-charge of research and advocacy.

She added, “This bouncing back of pollution post-lockdown unmasks the high impacts of local and regional pollution. This demands quicker regional reforms to curb pollution from vehicles, industry, power plants and waste burning to curb the winter pollution and also sustain annual improvement at a regional scale with speed.”