New Delhi, April 16 -- Delhi on Thursday felt the first smite of approaching summer as the mercury breached the 40 degrees Celsius mark, the highest this year so far.
Safdarjung recorded a maximum temperature of 40.3 degrees Celsius, 3.5 degrees above normal, while the minimum settled at 20.3 degrees Celsius, 1.3 degrees below normal. Palam saw a maximum of 39.4 degrees Celsius, 2.0 degrees above normal, and a minimum of 21.6 degrees Celsius, marginally 0.2 degrees below normal.
At Lodhi Road, the maximum temperature was 40.1 degrees Celsius, 4.1 degrees above normal, while the minimum stood at 18.8 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees below normal.
The Ridge station recorded the highest maximum at 41.4 degrees Celsius, 3.4 degrees above normal, with the minimum at 22.5 degrees Celsius, 0.5 degrees below normal.
Ayanagar reported a maximum of 40.5 degrees Celsius, 2.8 degrees above normal, while the minimum dropped to 18.2 degrees Celsius, 3.9 degrees below normal.
The India Meteorological Department has forecast a maximum temperature of around 41 degrees Celsius and a minimum of around 23 degrees Celsius on Friday, with a partly cloudy sky and the possibility of development of thunder and lightning.
Meanwhile, Delhi's Air Quality Index plummeted to 226, into the 'poor' category, prompting authorities to invoke Stage 1 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the national capital.
As per 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'.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.