Summer beckons as mercury crosses 40°C in parts of Capital

The Capital grudgingly welcomed the summer sun on Wednesday, as some parts near the ridge and Pitampura recorded a maximum temperature over 40 degrees Celsius (°C).

- Snehil Sinha

NEW DELHI: The maximum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory—considered the standard for the Capital—was 38.9°C, the hottest March day in around three years, since a maximum of 39.5°C degrees was recorded on March 31, 2022, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

At the Ridge station, the maximum temperature was 40.1°C and at Pitampura station, it was 40.6°C.

The temperature at the Safdarjung station was 7.4°C above normal and 1.8°C higher than last year's. To be sure, March 2022 was the warmest March in 122, according to IMD data, with an average of 33.1°C. The average in March 2025 so far has been 32.1°C.

Weather officials, however, said the weather conditions could not be classified a "heatwave" as, according to IMD, a "heatwave day" when the maximum is 4.5°C above normal and the maximum is over 40°C. It is also considered a "heatwave day" when the maximum temperature crosses 45°C. A "severe heatwave" is declared when the maximum is over 6.5°C higher than the normal, when the maximum is above 40°C.

"We need these conditions to be fulfilled at two stations on two consecutive days to declare a heatwave in any region," an IMD official said.