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Overnight rain cleans up Delhi’s air, drops temperature; waterlogging hits several areas
At 9.05 am, the city’s air quality index (AQI) was 88, in the “satisfactory” category, down from 111 – “moderate” category on Sunday.
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Overnight rain lifted Delhi’s air quality to the satisfactory category and lowered Monday morning’s minimum temperature, though several areas reported waterlogging.
Among the areas waterlogged are the Dharampura-to-Iron Bridge stretch on Ansari Road, Mahipalpur flyover, Zakhira underpass and the area around Ghazipur Murga Mandi.
At 9.05 am, the city’s air quality index (AQI) was 88, in the “satisfactory” category, down from 111 – “moderate” category on Sunday. The rainfall is likely to have helped wash out suspended dust and other pollutants, contributing to improved air quality.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD's) observations recorded at 8.30 am on Monday, the minimum temperature at Safdarjung – Delhi's base weather station – settled at 18.7 degrees Celsius, down 5.7 degrees Celsius over the past 24 hours. The minimum temperature was 2.3 degrees below normal.
At Palam, the minimum temperature was recorded at 17 degrees Celsius, a drop of 4.5 degrees over the previous 24 hours and 4.5 degrees below normal. Lodhi Road recorded a minimum of 18.7 degrees Celsius, while the Ridge and Ayanagar stations recorded 20 degrees Celsius and 18.5 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The maximum temperature recorded on Sunday was 32 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung, 30.5 degrees Celsius at Palam, 31 degrees Celsius at Lodhi Road, 30.9 degrees Celsius at the Ridge and 30.8 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar observatories, respectively, on Sunday.
The IMD's 24-hour cumulative rainfall figures till 8.30 am showed 41.6 mm at Safdarjung, 31 mm at Palam, 41.4 mm at Lodhi Road, 49 mm at the Ridge and 39 mm at Ayanagar.
The rain brought relief from warm conditions and improved the air quality but waterlogging at key stretches posed challenges for commuters during the morning hours.
The IMD had issued a 'red' alert, warning of thunderstorms, lightning, gusty winds reaching up to 60 kmph and heavy rainfall exceeding 15 mm per hour across Delhi till 9 am. The alert was later changed to yellow till 9.55 am. Currently, there is no alert in place.
Meteorologist Navdeep Dahiya said the rains due to western disturbance started over parts of Delhi-NCR late on Sunday and covered most parts till early morning.
"Safdarjung received 40mm so far till 5:30am. Fresh bands from central Haryana are stretching, moderate to heavy thundershowers will continue in various parts of Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad till 8am. Clear and dry weather is expected thereafter," he said in a post on X.
