Delhi remains cool, likely to see more showers today

The rain meant that the Capital’s maximum temperature settled at 35°C —five degrees below normal for this time of the year.

Showers in the early hours of the morning and in the afternoon kept Delhi’s temperatures cool for a sixth day in a row, with the Met department predicting more of the same on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Visitors at Kartvaya Path on Monday afternoon. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Safdarjung, representational of Delhi’s weather, received 7.2mm of rainfall across a 24-hour period till 8.30 am on Monday, and added another 1.2mm over the next nine hours, India Meteorological Department (IMD) data showed, taking the monthly total to 87.9mm — nearly three times the monthly average mark of 30.7mm.

Other parts of the city received even more rainfall, with the station at Jafarpur logging 34.5mm of rain till 8.30am, while Ridge received 8mm and Pusa 11mm. Gurugram received 1mm during this period.

Over the next nine hours till 5.30 pm, Pusa recorded 11mm of rain, Palam 0.8mm, Ridge 1.8mm, Najafgarh 0.5mm, and Gurugram 3.5mm.

Last May, Delhi had received 47.7mm of rainfall, while in 2021, it received 144.8mm of rainfall. The all-time rainfall record for May is 165mm in 2008.

Read: Rain lashes several parts of Delhi-NCR, IMD warns of thunderstorms

Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD, said the first spell of rain that hit Delhi-NCR on Monday was fairly widespread, with light to moderate showers occurring between 2 and 3 am and covering most locations. “Rain was recorded at most stations across NCR, even though the duration was short. We then saw rains across Delhi after 2 pm, with fresh thunder clouds coming from southwest of Delhi. This second spell mainly brought very light to light showers,” he said.

The rain meant that the Capital’s maximum temperature settled at 35 degrees Celsius (°C) —five degrees below normal for this time of the year, and slightly below the 35.7°C recorded on Sunday.

Delhi logged its warmest day of the year on May 22, when it recorded a high of 43.7°C. The next day, the city logged a maximum temperature of 43.5°C, but thereafter, rain triggered by two western disturbances have kept Delhi’s temperatures below the 37 degree mark since May 24.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s minimum temperature was 21.8°C — five degrees below normal, and nearly two notches lower than the 23.6°C a day earlier.

Forecasts show Delhi is likely to see more rain in the coming days, with a yellow alert in place for both Tuesday and Wednesday. A yellow alert is the first stage of alerts issued by the IMD, and is issued to warn the people of a weather phenomenon in the region. An orange alert requires the public to be prepared, while the last stage – red — needs the public to be most vigilant and take action.

Srivastava said Tuesday’s rain was mainly expected in the second half of the day – occurring late in the evening or at night, while on Wednesday, light showers may occur during the day.

“We may see rain late on Monday night and again on Tuesday night. For the spells on Tuesday and Wednesday, gusty winds of 30-40 km/hr are also expected,” he said, adding that the current western disturbance influencing the Capital is expected to weaken only after June 1.

IMD forecasts show Delhi’s maximum is expected to hover at around 34-35°C till Wednesday, while the minimum will be around 19-21°C. “It will be a cool end to the month, with this impact continuing in the first week of June too,” Srivastava said.

Delhi’s air quality meanwhile remained in the moderate category, showing only a marginal improvement. The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 134 (moderate) at 4 pm on Monday, while it was 136 (moderate) at the same time on Sunday. The AQI is likely to remain moderate till Thursday now.