March ends on a ‘high’ note in Delhi: Friday warmest March day in 7 years

March in Delhi ended on a ‘high’ note, with temperature crossing 40°C in isolated places in the national capital.

March has been unusually warm in the city with each passing day, breaking the previous day’s record of high temperature. However, temperature may taper off a bit on Thursday, as the weathermen expect a possible thundery development on Wednesday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD), which uses the temperature at the Safdarjung observatory as the standard for Delhi, said that the morning temperature settled at a high 23.3°C and the mercury kept rising up to 38.6°C in Delhi. This broke the record that was set on Thursday, making the last day of the month also the warmest day of the season, and the warmest March day in Delhi since 2010. In 2010, on March 22 the mercury had risen to as high as 39.2°C during the course of the day.

“This is crazy! I remember it used to get warm in March, but I don’t think it has ever gotten this bad. This year, we have even started using the A/C much sooner. Earlier, we used to start using the A/C by the end of April,” said Arshya Ghazi, a resident of Lajpat Nagar.

However, people living close to areas such as Palam, Ridge, Ayanagar and Sports complex may have had it worse this Friday. Palam’s day temperature rose to as high as 40.2°C, while in Ridge, it was 40.3°C. Ayanagar and Sports complex also recorded very high temperature, with 39.8°C.

These temperatures are several notches above the normal expected temperature for this time of the year. Normally, the mercury is expected to drop to 18°C and not rise above 32°C during the course of the day.

Weathermen at the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC) have attributed the high temperature to a heat wave that hit the national capital, and the wind patterns for the high temperatures. These high temperatures seem like they are here to stay.

“Over Delhi NCR temperatures will remain 38°C -39°C range till April 4 and thereafter, maximum will temperatures will decrease,” said an RWFC official. With the IMD expecting “thundery development” on Wednesday, temperature may drop a little by Thursday.