After light rain in Delhi, forecast for warmer days ahead

Delhi’s maximum has remained at 30°C or above for the third consecutive day, signalling the arrival of a hot summer in the days to come

The Capital on Wednesday recorded scattered light rain, which was largely down to a passing western disturbance influencing northwest India, even as the maximum temperature was capped at 31.4 degrees Celsius (°C) — three degrees above normal and a marginal rise from Tuesday’s 30.9°C — according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Clouds above the Civic Centre in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

With this, Delhi’s maximum has remained at 30°C or above for the third consecutive day, signalling the arrival of a hot summer in the days to come. The minimum, meanwhile, settled at 13°C, which was two degrees below normal and nearly a degree lower than Tuesday’s 14.2°C.

IMD has forecast mainly clear skies on Thursday, accompanied by surface winds of speed 25 to 35km/hour. The skies will clear out in the later part of the day and mainly clear skies will persist on Friday, accompanied by surface winds of speed 25 to 35km/hour, said an IMD official. The maximum is forecast to oscillate between 29°C and 30°C for the next three days while the minimum is expected to stay between 13°C to 15°C.

On Wednesday, Safdarjung, which is representative of Delhi’s weather, only received trace rainfall between 8.30am and 5.30pm. Other weather stations — including Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar — also recorded trace rainfall while SPS Mayur Vihar recorded 0.5mm of rain. Meanwhile, NCR areas like Noida and Gurugram recorded 2mm and 2.5mm of rainfall, respectively.

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“Thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 30 to 40km/hour was recorded in isolated places of Delhi,” Met officials said. The city’s humidity oscillated between 26% and 91% in the past 24 hours.

“This drizzle was because of western disturbances but it will pass soon. Skies will be partly cloudy in the early hours of Thursday but it will become clear in the later part of the day,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality continued to stay in the “moderate” category. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) recorded a reading of 165 (moderate) at 4pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) national bulletin. It was 191 (moderate) at the same time the day before.

“The air quality is likely to be in moderate category from Thursday to Saturday. The outlook for the subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in the moderate category,” said the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi on Wednesday.

CPCB classifies an AQI between 0-50 as “good”, between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as very poor and over 400 as “severe”.