The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast light rainfall and drizzle across entire Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) over the next few hours. According to the IMD, light rain is very likely to occur across Delhi as well as nearby areas including Sonipat, Jhajjar, Rewari, Nuh and Palwal in Haryana; Bagpat and Modinagar in Uttar Pradesh; and Alwar in Rajasthan.
Several other towns in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan may witness very light rainfall or drizzle during the next two hours.
Yellow alert for Northern states
The IMD has also issued a yellow alert for light rainfall over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh and West Madhya Pradesh for the next three hours. A yellow alert generally means that people should stay aware of changing weather conditions, though no major disruption is expected.
Hottest day of the year recorded
The weather update comes a day after Delhi recorded its hottest day of the year so far. On Monday, the maximum temperature in the Capital touched 31.6°C, which was seven degrees above the seasonal average, according to a report by Press Trust of India.
This was the first time this season that the temperature crossed 30°C. Data shows that this is the earliest in five years that February has seen temperatures above 30°C. The last similar instance was in 2021, when the mercury reached 30.4°C on February 11.
Delhi remained warmer than usual in the first half of February. Between February 1 and 15, the average maximum temperature was 25°C nearly 1.9°C above the long-term average.
Temperatures have steadily increased since February 12. The maximum temperature was 25.4°C on February 12, 26.3°C on February 13, 27°C on February 14, and 28.5°C on February 15, before peaking at 31.6°C on Monday.
