New Delhi, Jan 19 (UNI) A week after a cold wave gripped the national Capital, with temperatures plunging below 3 degrees Celsius, Delhi witnessed a sharp rise in mercury on Monday. The maximum temperature climbed to 26.7 degrees Celsius, 7 degrees above normal for this time of the year.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Monday’s temperature was the seventh-highest temperature the city has recorded for the month.
Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, has crossed this mark five times in January since 2010. Temperatures touched 27°C on January 31, 2025, 28.7 °C on January 21, 2019, and 27.7 °C on January 19, 2018. The mercury also rose to 27.2 °C on January 31, 2016, and 28 °C on January 30, 2010. The station’s all-time highest January temperature remains 30°C, recorded on January 29, 1991.
The weather department has forecast that maximum temperatures are likely to remain appreciably above normal over the next four days. The mercury is expected to hover between 23°C and 26°C. A slight drop in temperatures is possible on Friday. Very light rain or drizzle may occur, influenced by an approaching western disturbance.
Meanwhile, no major change was witnessed in Delhi’s minimum temperature, which stood at 7.7°C in the near-normal range.
On Monday, northwesterly winds prevailed over Delhi with speeds reaching up to 10 kmph in the past 24 hours, mildly improving the city’s air quality. According to the Central Pollution Control Board data, Delhi’s average air quality index (AQI) on Monday stood at 410, lower than Sunday’s readings of 440, while remaining in ‘severe’ air.
As per the CPCB classification, air quality readings between 300-400 fall under the ‘very poor’ category, which causes respiratory illness on prolonged exposure, while AQI levels above 400, in the ‘severe’ category, affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing diseases.
