Rashtrapati Bhawan shrouded in haze, during a cloudy and dusty weather in Delhi.
A yellowish haze enveloped Delhi today as strong dust-raising winds, gusting up to 40 kilometers per hour, swept the city, the India Meteorological Department said. Dusty weather prevailed in the national capital for most part of the day.
Similar conditions are likely on Wednesday as well, an IMD official said.
The city recorded a maximum of 37.9 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, six notches above the normal for this time of the year. The minimum temperature settled at 19 degrees Celsius.
On Monday, Delhi reeled under a "severe" heat wave as the maximum temperature shot up to 40.1 degrees Celsius, making it the hottest day in March in 76 years, the IMD had said.
The city had recorded a maximum of 40.5 degrees Celsius on March 31, 1945 and 39.6 degrees Celsius on March 29, 1973, according to IMD data.
The air quality in the national capital was recorded in the ''poor'' category.
The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 232, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.
An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "poor", 301-400 "very poor" and 401-500 "severe", while that above 500 falls in the "severe plus" category.
Meanwhile, a dust storm caused by a strong pressure gradient force hit Rajasthan today, bringing down the mercury by a few notches in some parts of the state, the Meteorological Centre said. The weather department has predicted gusty winds with speeds reaching 30 to 40 kmph in some parts of the state over the next few days.