February Heat Records Broken in Delhi as Temperatures Soar
Unprecedented February Heat in Delhi
This February, the national capital, Delhi, has experienced unprecedented heat, surpassing temperature records from the past three years. According to the latest data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the average maximum temperature for February this year reached 26.9 degrees Celsius, exceeding the cooler temperatures recorded in the previous two years (2024 and 2025). On Friday, the temperature at Safdarjung Observatory peaked at 31.9 degrees Celsius, marking the hottest day of the month.
The IMD's statistics indicate that the last time the average maximum temperature for February was higher than this year's figure was in 2023, when it stood at 28.2 degrees Celsius.
Last year, the average maximum temperature was recorded at 26.7 degrees Celsius, while in 2024, it was 24.4 degrees Celsius. This February, the average minimum temperature was noted at 11.6 degrees Celsius. At Safdarjung, the minimum temperature was 13.1 degrees Celsius, which is 0.6 degrees above normal, whereas Lodhi Road recorded 12.8 degrees Celsius, 1.8 degrees higher than the average. The minimum temperatures at Ridge Station and Ayanagar were 14.2 degrees Celsius and 13.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Meanwhile, the average Air Quality Index (AQI) over the past 24 hours was recorded at 200, falling within the moderate category. According to the Central Pollution Control Board's Sameer app, 22 monitoring stations reported moderate air quality in the evening, 14 stations indicated poor quality, and two stations recorded very poor air quality. The CPCB categorizes air quality levels as follows: 0-50 is good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor, and 401-500 is severe.
In terms of daily air quality categories, this February saw 20 days classified as poor and two days as very poor, while four days were in the moderate range. According to CPCB data, the air quality in the city was recorded as moderate at 9 AM on Friday, with an AQI of 187.