New Delhi, April 1 The capital is starting this April with rain, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that consecutive spells of rain are likely to affect Delhi from Friday and continue through the weekend.
The city saw a slight drop in temperature on Wednesday after several areas received significant rainfall the day before, as well as during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to data from the IMD, Safdarjung, which is representative of Delhi's weather, recorded a minimum temperature of 16.8 degrees Celsius, a 2.6 degree decrease from the previous day. This was also two degrees below the normal for this time of year.
The maximum temperature at Safdarjung on Wednesday was recorded at 33.5 degrees Celsius, 0.5 degree below the normal. This was a 0.2 degree decrease from Tuesday's maximum temperature.
According to IMD data, while Safdarjung received no rain in the early hours of Wednesday, Lodhi Road recorded 6.4 mm of rain between 11.30 pm on Tuesday and 2.30 am on Wednesday. The Ridge and Ayanagar recorded 2.6 mm and 6.8 mm of rain in the same time, respectively.
No rain was recorded after that throughout the day until 7 pm.
"Delhi is expected to receive a significant amount of rain on Friday and Saturday. The city will continue to experience intermittent rain until at least April 8-9, due to the influence of two consecutive western disturbances, one expected to affect the region from Thursday and the other at the beginning of next week," said Mahesh Palawat, Vice President at Skymet.
The IMD has also issued a yellow alert for Saturday, forecasting one or two spells of very light rain or drizzle, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and strong surface winds with speeds between 20 and 30 kmph, gusting up to 40 kmph during the afternoon and evening.
The temperature might see a slight increase on Thursday due to cloudy conditions, and then is likely to decrease in the subsequent days due to the influence of rain, IMD officials added.
The maximum temperature is expected to be around 35-37 degrees Celsius on Thursday, and then 32-34 degrees by Sunday. The minimum temperature is expected to be around 18-20 degrees Celsius on Thursday, and then fall to 16-18 degrees by next Monday.
Meanwhile, the city's air quality saw a significant improvement. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 113 (moderate) at 4 pm on Wednesday, compared to an AQI of 171 recorded at the same time on Tuesday.
According to CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', and 401-500 'severe'.
The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi has forecast the AQI to remain in the moderate category for the next few days.