Relentless rain persisted in certain areas of Delhi on Saturday following the city’s highest December rainfall in 27 years recorded the day before. The neighboring regions of the national capital experienced rainfall on Saturday, resulting in a significant drop in temperature to 13 degrees Celsius.
In the rain, Delhi experienced a slight enhancement in air quality, which stayed in the ‘moderate’ range, featuring an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 179.
The India Meteorological Department has released a ‘yellow’ alert for the weekend, forecasting “light rain/ thunderstorms”. In December 2024, Delhi recorded 42.8 mm, marking the highest level in the past 27 years.
The Palam observatory recorded 31.4 mm of rain, 34.2 mm at Lodhi Road, 33.4 mm in Ridge, 39 mm at Delhi University, and 35 mm in Pusa by 5:30 pm on Friday.
As per the meteorological agency, the ongoing western disturbance and its interplay with easterly winds were resulting in light to moderate rainfall and thunderstorms across northwest and central India, affecting Delhi’s neighboring cities of Noida, Gurugram, and Faridabad.
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The ongoing rain in Delhi-NCR is likely to maintain cooler temperatures throughout the weekend. In its announcement, the IMD forecasted a high of 16 degrees Celsius in Delhi, with the low anticipated to remain at 12 degrees Celsius.
The rainfall led to waterlogging and traffic interruptions across several areas of Delhi. A section of a road in Sector-9 of RK Puram collapsed, causing a motorcycle and a car to plunge into the damaged area.
At the same time, Delhi’s air quality continued to be in the ‘moderate’ range, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 179 documented on Saturday. The AQI of Anand Vihar hit 236, classified as ‘poor,’ whereas Siri Fort and Mundka logged 243 and 218, respectively.
An AQI ranging from zero to 50 is deemed ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.
