Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 13 degrees Celsius on Sunday, six notches above the season’s average, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The maximum temperature is expected to reach 16 degrees Celsius, with the weather department predicting mostly clear skies for the day.
The city’s air quality deteriorated to the ‘poor’ category on Sunday morning, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 230 at 9 am. On Saturday, the 24-hour average AQI stood in the ‘moderate’ category at 135 as of 4 pm. An AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.
Humidity levels were at 95% at 8:30 am on Sunday. The city also witnessed 41.2 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours leading up to 8:30 am on Saturday, marking the highest single-day December rainfall in 101 years, according to the IMD.
The IMD noted that the previous record for the highest single-day December rainfall in Delhi was 75.7 mm on December 3, 1923. The recent rainfall also made December 2024 the fifth-highest month in terms of rainfall since record-keeping began in 1901.
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An IMD official explained, “The 24-hour cumulative rainfall ending at 8:30 am today is the second-highest since 1901 at Safdarjung. The monthly rainfall now ranks as the fifth-highest. The 24-hour cumulative rainfall refers to precipitation recorded during the past 24 hours, ending at 8:30 am IST on the specified date.”
