Explained: Why March, April, May will be warmer than normal

New Delhi, Feb 29: The months of March, April and May are "likely to be warmer than normal" over northwest, west, central and parts of south India, the India Meteorological Department said on Friday in its summer forecast.

Above normal heat wave conditions are also likely in the core heat wave (HW) zone during the season (March-May), it said.

The core HW zone covers the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana and parts of Maharashtra and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, it was a relatively warmer Friday morning in Delhi, with the minimum temperature settling at 16.7 degrees Celsius, the highest this season, MeT officials said.

Partly cloudy skies with possibility of development of thunder and lightning are forecast for the day. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 26 degrees Celsius.

Both observatories of #Delhi recorded highest #minimum of the season. #Safdarjung is 16.7 and #Palam recorded 16.6 degree. #Rain to commence from tonight. #DelhiRains," tweeted Mahesh Palawat, vice president of private weather forecasting company Skymet.

A MeT official also said that at 16.7 degrees Celsius, the minimum of the day was highest in the season till date. Relative humidity was 88 percent at 8.30 AM.