March ends on a dry note with 75% rain deficiency in Delhi

The Capital in March experienced nearly a 75% rain deficiency, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The weather agency said that till Saturday, Delhi’s Safdarjung — representative of Delhi’s weather — received a rainfall of 4.3mm, thereby registering a deficit of 75% compared to season’s normal of 17.1 mm.

In the last 24 hours, Safdarjung received trace rainfall till 8.30am. Other weather stations such as Palam and Ayanagar received 0.2mm and 0.5mm of rain during the same period, while Lodhi Road received trace rain as well.

Also read: Heatwave to hit India in April-May, temperatures to be above normal: IMD

As per IMD’s record-keeping methodology, rainfall recorded till 8.30 am on the last day of the month is taken into consideration in that month’s total rainfall, with any rain after that being counted in the next month’s total.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature in March was recorded below 10 degrees Celsius (°C) for a total of five days, while a minimum of 10°C was logged on two days. The lowest minimum temperature dropped to 8.8°C on March 7. The minimum went up by a notch and was recorded at 21.8°C on Saturday as compared to Friday’s 20.5 degrees. The maximum, on the other hand, dipped to 35.2°C, three degrees above normal. The maximum on Friday was 37.8°C, according to IMD.

IMD has forecast the minimum to go down to 19 degrees by Tuesday and then gradually rise again. The maximum is expected to hover between 34°C and 35°C. Forecasts also showed that Delhi is expected to experience partly cloudy skies, accompanied by gusty wind with a speed of 30-40 kmph, for the next two days.

“The days were warmer but the nights were significantly cooler in the first half of March, leading to a lower minimum average. That happened due to clear skies persisting through most of the month, along with strong surface winds and the influence of north westerlies and western disturbances,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

“Clear skies lead to higher maximum and lower minimum as more heat reaches the earth’s surface during the day but majority of the heat is lost by night due to lack of cloud cover,” Srivastava added.

Also read: Odisha declares morning schools from April 2 after IMD forecasts hot, humid days

The air quality index (AQI) of Delhi, meanwhile, stayed in the “moderate” category. The AQI was recorded at 189 (moderate) on Saturday at 4 pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) national bulletin. The AQI was 176 (moderate) at the same time on Friday.

“The air quality is likely to be in ‘moderate’ till April 2,” said the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi bulletin on Saturday. CPCB classifies an AQI between 0-50 as good, between 51 and 100 as satisfactory, between 101 and 200 as moderate, between 201 and 300 as poor, between 301 and 400 as very poor and over 400 as severe.