New Delhi, April 11 The capital continued to experience a rise in temperature on Saturday, with forecasts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) suggesting further increases in the coming days.
Safdarjung, a representative of the city's weather, recorded a maximum temperature of 34.7 degrees Celsius, 1.4 degrees below the normal and 1.9 degrees more than the previous day.
The minimum temperature was recorded at 18.6 degrees Celsius, 2.4 degrees below normal, but a 2.3 degree increase from the previous day.
Other weather stations also recorded a significant increase in both maximum and minimum temperatures.
Palam recorded a maximum of 34.4 degrees Celsius, a 2.6 degree increase from Friday, and a minimum of 19.5 degrees Celsius, 3.9 degrees more than the previous day. Lodhi Road recorded a minimum of 17.8 degrees Celsius, a 2.6 degree increase from the previous day.
Meanwhile, the IMD has forecast a minimum temperature of around 18-2 degrees Celsius by Sunday and 20-22 degrees Celsius by Tuesday. The maximum temperature is likely to be around 35-37 degrees by Sunday and 38-40 degrees Celsius by next Wednesday.
The MeT department has also forecast gusty winds with speeds of 15-25 kmph, potentially reaching 35 kmph, to continue throughout Sunday.
In the meantime, the city's air quality index (AQI) saw further improvement on Saturday morning. The 24-hour average AQI was recorded at 123 (moderate) at 4 pm, compared to an AQI of 151 (moderate) recorded at the same time on Friday.
According to CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', and 401-500 'severe'.
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has forecast the AQI to remain in the moderate category for the next few days, and then deteriorate to the poor category in the subsequent days.