Hot Holi in Delhi as mercury reaches year's high

It was a warm day in the national capital today as Delhiites witnessed a hot Holi with the maximum temperature recording at 36.2 deg Celsius, the highest this year.
The maximum temperature today was five notches above the average, while the minimum settled at 16 deg Celsius, one notch below normal for this time of the year, a MeT official said.
Weather data suggests today's Holi registered the maximum temperature for at least last six years even as MeT officials denied "unfair" comparison, owing to varying dates of the festival.
In Holi 2015 (March 6), the maximum temperature was recorded at 27.3 degrees Celsius, while it was around 26 and 29 deg Celsius in 2014 (March 17) and 2013 (March 17) respectively. In Holi 2012 (March 8), the maximum temperature was 29 deg Celsius and around 34 deg Celsius in 2011 (March 20), the official said.

Data prior to 2011 could not be obtained.
However, a senior MeT official refrained from calling it the "hottest" Holi in the last years, citing that weather variation is very high in the month of March and the dates of Holi in the past six years range from March 1 to 27.

"It won't be a fair comparison," he added.
Humidity level oscillated between 27 and 87 per cent, the Met official said, predicting clear sky for tomorrow with mist and haze to be witnessed in some areas early in the morning.
"The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be around 36 and 18 degrees Celsius respectively," the official added.

Yesterday, the maximum temperature settled at 32.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average while the minimum was recorded at 17 degrees Celsius.