Delhi: After sultry Monday, IMD issues orange alert for heavy rains on Wednesday

The onset of monsoon in Delhi was declared on Thursday, with the Capital recording 117.2mm of rain in a span of 24 hours, pushing the temperature down significantly and giving the city its coolest day in 116 days on Thursday.

Although Monday was not the hottest day this year in Delhi so far, it certainly felt that way as the humidity remained high in the national capital, which combined with temperatures settling at 36.8 degrees Celsius made the day sultry.

The humidity levels oscillated between 62 per cent and 89 per cent. (HT Photo)

The minimum temperature was recorded at 27.4 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year, while the humidity levels oscillated between 62 per cent and 89 per cent.

Read: Monsoon tracker in 10 points: Rain alert for these states this week

The Indian Metrological Department (IMD) has forecast a ‘cloudy sky’ for Tuesday with the possibility of light to moderate rain, while predicting ‘heavy rainfall or thundershowers’ for Wednesday.

An ‘orange alert’ has also been issued for Wednesday, while there is a 'yellow alert' for Tuesday. The IMD uses four colour codes for weather warnings -- green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).

The weather office said maximum and minimum temperature are expected to hover around 36 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively, on Tuesday.

Parts of Delhi received light rainfall on Sunday and the maximum temperature in the city settled at 35.7 degrees Celsius, a notch below the average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 26.2 degrees Celsius, two notches below the average.

The onset of monsoon in Delhi was declared on Thursday, with the Capital recording 117.2mm of rain in a span of 24 hours, pushing the temperature down significantly and giving the city its coolest day in 116 days on Thursday.

According to the weather office, the city received 1.9mm of rainfall between 8.30am on Friday and 8.30am on Saturday.

The weather department classifies rainfall between ‘trace’ and 2.4 mm as ‘very light rainfall’, as ‘light rainfall’ when it is between 2.5 mm and 15.5 mm, as ‘moderate’ rainfall when it is between 15.6 mm and 64.4 mm and as ‘heavy’ when it is over 64.5 mm in a single day.

(With agency inputs)