Wet start to month may persist, intensity to fall: IMD

Delhi experienced light rainfall on Sunday, with forecasts for scattered rain continuing into Monday. The air quality remains satisfactory.

Residents in the city woke up to cloudy skies and light rainfall on Sunday, continuing the wet start to the month. The forecast by India Meteorological Department (IMD) suggests scattered light rain on Monday too.

Overcast skies atop the Signature Bridge, as Delhi recorded 16.7mm rain overnight. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Safdarjung, Delhi’s base station, logged 16.7mm in the 24 hours till 8.30am. No rain was recorded between 8.30am and 5.30pm. Other stations which recorded light to moderate rain till 8.30am included Palam (20.7mm), Lodhi road (15.2mm), Ridge (22.2mm), Rajghat (24mm), Pusa (29.5mm) and Najafgarh (28.5mm). The highest – 57.3mm was recorded in southwest Delhi’s Ayanagar, followed by 48mm in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar.

“We saw light to moderate rainfall in Delhi, with isolated pockets almost recording heavy rainfall. Monday should see scattered light spells, with a chance of marginal increase in intensity again on Tuesday,” an IMD official said.

With Sunday’s early morning rain, Delhi has already logged 38.1mm in August — Delhi’s wettest month in the year — while the month’s normal is 233.1mm. This comes following the excess rains in May, June and July.

From Wednesday till Sunday, there is a possibility of scattered light rain, the IMD said.

Delhi’s maximum temperature on Sunday was recorded at 34.3 degrees Celsius (°C), which was around the normal for this time of the year and slightly up from 33.7°C recorded a day earlier. Overcast skies were seen in the first half of the day, with sunlight peeking through in the second half. Humidity levels oscillated between 68% and 100% through the day.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature in the Capital was at 24.2°C, which was three degrees below normal and over a degree short from Saturday’s 25.7°C. Forecasts show overcast conditions will persist on Monday, with the maximum expected to hover between 32-34°C and the minimum between 23-25°C.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet said with no significant weather systems active, only scattered showers are likely this week. “There are more chances of rain early in the morning and at night, with the sun coming out during the day. Some isolated pockets may see short but intense spells,” he said.

May 2025 was the wettest ever on record, with 186.4mm of rain—far above the normal average of 30.7mm. In June, Delhi recorded 107.1mm of monthly rainfall — an excess of 45% over the long period average (LPA) of 74.1mm — data showed. Meanwhile in July, Delhi received 259.3mm – 24% excess over the LPA of 209.7mm.

Meanwhile, the rain did not impact the air quality of the city on Sunday. The air remained “satisfactory”, with the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) at 79, same as it was on Saturday. Forecasts by the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi shows the AQI is likely to remain “satisfactory” till at least Wednesday.