Rain, thunderstorms expected in Delhi today

A thunderstorm accompanied by rain is expected in the national capital on Friday, with the minimum temperature recorded at 29 degrees Celsius at 8:30 AM — 1.1 degrees above normal — according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 37 degrees Celsius, while the relative humidity was recorded at 72 per cent.

Despite repeated yellow alerts and consistent forecasts of the monsoon’s arrival, Delhiites continue to wait as the predicted rainfall has failed to fully materialise.

In its bulletin issued on Wednesday, the IMD had said that the monsoon was likely to cover Delhi within the next 24 hours — by Thursday. However, while cloudy conditions prevailed over the city for the past three to four days, the weather department noted that only very light to light rainfall occurred at a few locations.

The IMD explained that southeasterly winds persisted during this period due to the presence of an east-west seasonal trough and a convergence line lying to the south of Delhi, extending up to about 2 km above the surface. This led to consistent moisture incursion into the capital, resulting in low to medium cloud cover and scattered light to very light rain.

However, the mid- and upper-level wind and circulation patterns remained dominated by an anticyclonic circulation or ridge over the region, which hindered the northward progress of the monsoon towards Delhi.

Typically, the southwest monsoon reaches the city around June 30. In comparison, it arrived on June 28 in 2024, June 25 in 2023, June 30 in 2022, and July 13 in 2021.

Meanwhile, the national capital on Thursday recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, 2.3 notches below the seasonal average, while the minimum settled at 28.6 degrees Celsius — 0.7 notches above normal. The relative humidity was 74 per cent at 5:30 pm.

The city’s air quality remained in the “satisfactory” category on Thursday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 95 at 4 pm, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

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According to the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 to 100 “satisfactory”, 101 to 200 “moderate”, 201 to 300 “poor”, 301 to 400 “very poor”, and 401 to 500 “severe”.

(With inputs from PTI)