Delhi Heading For Hotter Days: No Rains Likely
Representational Image: AI-Skymet
Key Takeaways:
- Delhi recorded its highest temperature of the season at 34.3°C at Safdarjung.
- The mercury rose 7°C above normal, signalling an early heat surge in March.
- Dry weather will persist over Delhi/NCR for about 10 days as weather systems stay confined to the hills.
- Temperatures may approach 35°C over the weekend and rise further early next week.
Delhi recorded the highest temperature of this season yesterday. Base station Safdarjung registered a day high of 34.3°C, the first thirty-four of the season. It exceeded the previous day’s high of 33.2°C, and the mercury shot up to 7°C above the normal. The temperature is likely to reach close to 35°C over the weekend and rise further at the start of next week.
There is a western disturbance over the extreme northern parts, and another system is likely to approach on 09th March. However, the weather activity will remain confined to the hills during this period. The first spell of pre-monsoon activity over the plains will happen around the third week of March. Therefore, dry weather conditions will prevail over Delhi/NCR for about the next 10 days.
As per the pentad normal, the day maximum temperature in Delhi starts at around 27°C in the first week of March and rises to about 34°C at the fag end of the month. This season, the 34°C mark has been breached quite early in the month on 05th March 2026. Last year, the threshold of 34°C was crossed in the second week, and the year prior, in 2024, it was in the last week of the month, coinciding with the normal period. March 2023 was possibly the coolest, when the 34°C mark was achieved on 12th March, but the highest temperature for the month got arrested at 34.3°C, recorded on 16th March 2023. That month had the lowest number of days when the day temperature exceeded 34°C—just two days.
Going by the historic records, March 2026 is likely to be much warmer than normal. The highest temperatures are invariably registered in the last week of the month, and within that, at the fag end of the week. The capital city has touched the 40°C mark only once in the last two decades, on 30th March 2021. March 2026 could repeat history and become an outlier, seconding that record.
