Parts of northwest and central India will see a rise in night temperatures over the coming days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast on Saturday, with minimum temperatures soaring by 2-3 degrees Celsius.
“Minimum temperatures are likely to rise gradually by 2-3 degrees Celsius over most parts of northwest and central India and Maharashtra over the next four to five days,” the weather bureau said. “No significant change in minimum temperatures is expected over Gujarat during the next three days. Thereafter, a fall of 2-3 degrees Celsius is likely.”
Delhi on Saturday reported a maximum temperature of 29.8 degrees Celsius — 5°C above normal for this time of the year — while the minimum temperature was logged at 11.7 degrees Celsius, 1°C above the normal and a slight dip from the 12.8°C recorded on Friday.
Temperatures in many parts of the country have been rising in the past few days, especially in states along the western coast, which have been recording above normal temperatures, with deviations of around 5-10 degrees Celsius in parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. This spike is unusual for this time of the year, experts said.
In the past week, temperatures as high as 40°C were recorded in Bhuj in Gujarat, 10°C above normal. On Thursday, a high departure from normal was recorded in Bikaner in Rajasthan, where the maximum was 36.8°C. In Jammu and Kashmir, the deviations were 7-9 degrees above normal, according to Met department data.
“We are closely monitoring the temperature recordings in the Gujarat and Saurashtra region. In 2022 also, during the spring months, we saw that the impact of western disturbances was less, leading to higher solar insolation over the plains,” said Naresh Kumar, senior scientist at the weather office.
The winds blowing over these states are coming from the plains, blocking out the usual sea breeze from the Arabian Sea that has a cooling effect, Kumar said. “This is why maximum temperatures have increased quite a bit over the western region. There is a rising trend in temperatures over the northwestern plains also now,” he added.
“The overall temperature recordings in most parts of northwest and central India have remained at least 4-5 degrees above normal in February, and according to what forecasts are currently telling us, we are likely to see a warmer March as well,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather Services, a private forecaster.