Thursday’s rain brings mercury down in Delhi; more likely today

Delhi got some relief from the scorching heat on Friday morning after Thursday evening’s rain brought down the minimum temperature to 25.3 degrees Celsius from 28.4 degrees Celsius recorded a day before, weather data showed.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Friday, forecasting thunderstorms accompanied by rain, lightning and gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kmph in the afternoon and evening.

The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 36 degrees Celsius.

According to the IMD’s station-wise data, the minimum temperature at Safdarjung, the city’s base station, settled at 25.3 degrees Celsius, 1.3 notches below normal.

Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 24.1 degrees Celsius, Ridge 24 degrees Celsius, and Ayanagar 25.4 degrees Celsius, all about 2 degrees below normal.

The minimum temperature in Lodhi Road, however, remained almost unchanged at 25.6 degrees Celsius, IMD data showed.

As for rainfall, Safdarjung received 4 mm rain in the 24 hours ending 8.30 am, Palam 4.3 mm, Ayanagar 3.8 mm, Lodhi Road recorded trace rainfall, while Ridge reported no rainfall during the period.

At 142, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was ‘moderate’ at 9 am, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.

According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe.’