The maximum temperature in Delhi on Sunday settled at 41.8 degrees Celsius, 1.9 notches above the season’s average, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Rains lashed parts of the national capital early Sunday, bringing much-needed respite from the sweltering heat that gripped Delhi over the past few days. Rainfall activity was recorded across several parts of the city, with the capital receiving 42 mm of rain early Sunday morning, the IMD said. Safdarjung logged 33.5 mm of rainfall, Lodhi Road received 32 mm and Pusa recorded 27.5 mm during the same period, it added. Some areas in Delhi also reported power outages following the rainfall, officials said.
The rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm activity was recorded between 2:30 am and 4:30 am, the IMD said. The wind speeds reached up to 56 kmph at 4:30 am at the Palam airport, as visibility dropped from 4,000 metres at 2 am to 1,500 metres at 3 am, it added.
The weather office has issued an ‘orange’ alert for northwest, southwest and southeast Delhi, forecasting light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms and surface winds reaching 40 kmph to 50 kmph speeds, gusting up to 60 kmph.
The minimum temperature in the city settled at 20 degrees Celsius on Sunday, 7 notches below the seasonal average. The relative humidity was recorded at 43 per cent at 5.30 pm, the IMD said. Among the weather stations, Safdarjung recorded a maximum of 35.6 degrees Celsius, 3.2 notches below the normal, and a minimum of 20 degrees, 7.5 below the average. Palam saw a high of 35 degrees and a low of 24, both significantly below normal by 4.2 and 3.8 degrees, respectively. Lodhi Road reported 34.4 and 20 degrees as its maximum and minimum temperatures were 4.6 and 7.8 notches below average.
The Ridge recorded 34.5 and 20.8 degrees, down by 3.8 and 6 degrees, while Ayanagar reported a high of 35.5 degrees and a low of 23.7, below the seasonal normal by 3.1 and 2.2 degrees, respectively, the IMD added.
A thundersquall along with lightning, light to moderate rainfall and wind speeds touching 50-60 kmph is expected by Monday evening, it said.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 37 degrees Celsius and 23 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Delhi’s air quality was recorded in the ‘satisfactory’ category at 4 pm, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 62, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.
