Mercury soared in the national capital on Thursday recording the hottest day of July in last two years with the maximum temperature settling at 41.3 degree Celsius and no signs of rains.
The maximum temperature was a degree higher than yesterday’s maximum of 40.5 degree Celsius.
“Last year, the mercury only soared as high as 39.2 degree Celsius while in 2012 it had touched 43.5 degree Celsius. Usually, July witnesses monsoon and the current upward trend in temperature is mainly due to elusive rains,” a MeT department official said.
The day temperature of 41.3 degree Celsius recorded at Safdarjung observatory, considered the official reading for the city was six notches above normal for this time of the year.
At the Palam observatory, day temperature was registered at 43.5 degree Celsius while in Ridge area and Ayanagar it settled at 41.2 and 42.3 degree Celsius respectively.
The minimum temperature today was recorded at 30 degrees Celsius, three points above normal as against yesterday’s 29.6 degrees Celsius.
The dry patch, however, has brought some relief as it has caused humidity to drop from extreme highs of 80 to 90 per cent experienced during the last week.
“Humidity levels today hovered between 65 and 32 per cent,” the official said. Similar weather conditions are likely to prevail in the city during the next 24 hours as the weatherman has predicted partly cloudy sky while the maximum and minimum are expected to settle around 41 and 30 degree respectively.
“There is very less possibility of rainfall,” the official added.
—PTI