Heavy rainfall lashes several parts of Delhi-NCR, temperature drops

|HT|

Delhi on Thursday woke up to thundershowers, with heavy rainfall lashing several parts of the national capital region (NCR), bringing down the temperature by a significant margin and providing relief to people from the sultry weather they were experiencing for the last few days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that Delhi is likely to witness “generally cloudy sky with moderate rain” today, and that the maximum temperature may drop to 34 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature on Thursday is expected to remain around 27 degrees Celsius, according to the Met department forecast.

The average maximum temperature on Wednesday was recorded at 40.9 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal for this time of the year. The minimum temperature yesterday was 27.6 degrees Celsius, which is considered normal for this time of the year. The weather department has predicted moderate or light rains to continue in the city for the next two-three days. As far as the pollution level in Delhi is concerned, the city’s air quality in the morning was in the ‘moderate’ category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) website. The hourly air quality index (AQI) at 8 am on Thursday stood at 155, which is in the mid-end of the ‘moderate’ category. The average 24-hour AQI on Wednesday was recorded at 163, which is in the mid-end of the moderate category.

An AQI between zero 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’.

On Thursday, the Union ministry of earth science’s air quality monitoring centre – System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) – said, “AQI today indicates ‘moderate’ air quality, with PM10 as the primary pollutant. Dust (size > 2.5 micrometer) contributes 53% to PM10. For the next 3 days (till July 2), peak wind speed is likely to be 20-25 km/hr, causing moderate dispersion, and the AQI is likely to be within ‘moderate’ or ‘upper end of satisfactory’ due to expected rain spells on July 1. Moderate temperature (35 degrees Celsius) and mixing layer height (2-2.5 km) maintains moderate ventilation by convection improving air quality.”

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