Cloudy skies, light rain set for a return over weekend in Delhi, says IMD

This is the fifth day in a row in May that the maximum temperature has been below the normal, with the minimum temperature at 19.5°C also 5 degrees below normal

Delhi witnessed another cooler-than-normal May day on Friday, with the Capital logging a maximum temperature of 34 degrees Celsius (°C) — five notches below the normal for this time of the year.

Children drink water from a bottle on Friday near India Gate, Delhi, on Friday. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Read here: Delhi fog, mercury 15°C: Is it May or December?

This is the fifth day in a row in May that the maximum temperature has been below the normal mark, with the minimum temperature at 19.5°C also five degrees below normal. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted more such days ahead, with scientists saying a western disturbance is likely to affect the National Capital Region starting Saturday, and bring rain to the city.

According to Met officials, the Capital is expected to witness cloudy skies on Saturday morning, with the possibility of drizzle at scattered rain across the city. None of the Delhi stations recorded any rain on Friday. So far, Delhi has recorded 45.7mm of rain in the first four days of the month, already surpassing the monthly normal average mark of 30.7mm. Last May, Delhi recorded 47.7mm of rain, while in 2021, it received 144.8mm of rain—largely owing to the impact of Cyclone Tauktae. The all-time rain record for May is 165mm, which was recorded in 2008.

IMD’s weekly forecast predicts that the maximum temperature will hover around 36°C, while the minimum temperature will be around 20°C.

“Cloudiness will prevail on Saturday and in one or two places, we might see some drizzle. There will be no major impact on the temperature. On Sunday too, we expect cloudy skies and the impact of the western disturbance will reduce thereafter with the increase in temperature,” IMD scientist Kuldeep Srivastava said.

Read here: Delhi wakes up to fog in summers, records lowest minimum temperature since May 2009

Meanwhile, Delhi’s pollution levels continued in the “moderate” zone on Friday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 183, a deterioration from 113 (moderate) on Thursday and 107 (moderate) on Wednesday. . An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good“, 51 and 100 “satisfactory“, 101 and 200 “moderate“, 201 and 300 “poor“, 301 and 400 “very poor“, and 401 and 500 “severe“.