Delhi recorded its warmest February night in 74 years, with the minimum temperature at Safdarjung reaching 19.5 degrees celsius on Thursday — the highest for the month in the period between 1951to 2025, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

“Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 19.5 degrees celsius today, February 27, 2025. This is the highest minimum temperature ever recorded for February at Safdarjung between 1951 and 2025,” the IMD said, adding that data prior to 1951 was unavailable.

Meanwhile, according to past records, the previous highest minimum temperature for February was 19 degrees celsius on February 25, 2015, making it the second highest on record.

This was followed by 18.6 degrees celsius in 1973, 18.5 degrees celsius on February 20, 2015, 18.2 degrees celsius in 1992 and 18.0 degrees celsius in 1988, which ranked as the fifth highest.

With a cloudy sky, the maximum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 25 degrees celsius on Thursday, 1.1 degrees below the normal average, the IMD said.

This comes a day after the city recorded its highest maximum temperature of the season at 32.4 degrees celsius on Wednesday.

Mahesh Palawat, Vice President of Skymet Weather, said that due to a cloudy sky and light drizzling in the capital, the minimum temperature is expected to drop again from today and remain stable until March 3 or 4.

A new western disturbance is expected in the first week of March, which, along with snowfall in the hills, will alter the wind pattern.

He also said that around March 10, winter season would end in Delhi, after which atmospheric pressure will start rising again and there will be no further drop in temperature.

The weather department has predicted a thunderstorm with rain for Friday, with the maximum and minimum temperatures expected to settle around 23 degrees celsius and 16 degrees celsius, respectively.

Additionally, the 24-hour average air quality in the national capital was recorded in the “poor” category, with an AQI reading of 215 at 4 PM, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good,” 51 and 100 “satisfactory,” 101 and 200 “moderate,” 201 and 300 “poor,” 301 and 400 “very poor,” and 401 and 500 “severe.”

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