Delhi records season’s highest temperature at 28 degrees C

New Delhi: The national capital experienced its warmest day of the season on Monday with the maximum temperature reaching 28 degrees Celsius.

This was 4.6 degrees above normal and surpassed Sunday’s high of 27.4 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 9.7 degrees Celsius, which is half a degree below normal for this time of the year.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast shallow fog for Tuesday, with minimum and maximum temperatures expected to be around 10 and 28 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Delhi's air quality, which had remained in the 'moderate' category for the past some days, deteriorated to the 'poor' category on Sunday.

The city's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 271 at 4 pm. AQI was recorded at 227 on Sunday, a sharp increase from 152 recorded at the same time on Saturday.

According to data from 37 air quality monitoring stations, nine locations reported 'very poor' air quality, with Anand Vihar and Mundka recording the highest AQI at 337.

The remaining 28 stations fell into the 'poor' category. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data also showed that PM2.5 was the dominant pollutant across the city throughout the day.

The CPCB classifies AQI levels as follows: 0-50 ('good'), 51-100 ('satisfactory'), 101-200 ('moderate'), 201-300 ('poor'), 301-400 ('very poor'), and above 400 ('severe').

With winter gradually transitioning into spring, meteorologists predict that Delhi’s temperatures could reach 30 degrees Celsius by the end of February.

Last year, the highest temperature recorded in February was 29.7 degrees Celsius on February 19.

In previous years, Delhi recorded February highs of 33.6 degrees Celsius in 2023 (February 21), 28.4 degrees Celsius in 2022 (February 19), and 33.2 degrees Celsius in 2021 (February 26).

The all-time highest February temperature in Delhi was 34.1 degrees Celsius, recorded on February 26, 2006, according to the IMD records.