Mercury likely to touch 44 degrees Celsius by Monday

New Delhi: The day temperature surpassed 40 degrees Celsius for the first time this May on Thursday. Mercury is likely to rise and may reach 44 degrees Celsius by Monday.The maximum temperature was recorded at 40.6 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal. However, the humidity also remained high, with the heat index or feel-like temperature settling at 42.9 degrees Celsius at 5:30 pm. It was 39.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, but the weather took a sudden turn during the night when rain accompanied by gusty winds and hailstorms hit the city.Though the Met department had predicted a spell of rain on Thursday, no rain was received till 5.30 pm. “A feeble western disturbance is expected to impact from Friday, but it is unlikely to cause rain in Delhi-NCR. A gradual rise in mercury is expected in the city over the next few days,” said a Met official.The mercury is expected to be between 40-42 degrees Celsius till May 17 and may touch 44 degrees Celsius by May 18.So far in May, the daytime temperatures have mostly stayed below normal as frequent rain spells and overcast skies have kept mercury in check. Safdarjung has logged 12.7 mm of rainfall in the month so far. However, the mercury remained above 40 degrees Celsius on many days in April, with the season’s high recorded at 42.8 degrees Celsius on April 25. The city had also reeled under the season’s first heatwave on April 25.In May last year, the highest maximum temperature was reported at 42.3 degrees Celsius on May 16. It was 46.8 degrees Celsius in 2024 on May 30 and 43.7 degrees Celsius on May 23, 2023.The minimum temperature settled at 23.4 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal, on Thursday. It is likely to rise and reach 26 degrees Celsius by Sunday.Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘moderate’ category on Thursday. The AQI was 154, compared with 147 a day earlier. The air quality is forecast to remain in the ‘moderate’ range till Saturday and may hover between poor and moderate categories during the next six days thereafter, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, which functions under the Union ministry of earth sciences.