Delhi may get a respite from the scorching summer heat as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast thunderstorms accompanied by rain from Thursday.
The city’s minimum temperature was recorded at 28.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday, at the Safdarjung meteorological station which is considered representative of Delhi’s weather.
The forecast said: “Very light/other light rain accompanied by thunderstorms/lightning and strong winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kilometers per hour and gusting to 60 kilometers per hour.”
The IMD has issued a yellow alert for rainfall and maximum temperature of 42-44 degrees Celsius on Thursday, and an orange alert for Friday with the maximum falling to 35-37 degrees Celsius.
Yellow alerts for rain were issued on Sunday and Monday as well.
The weather forecast for Thursday expected the weather to be partly cloudy turning to generally cloudy, with strong surface winds continuing to reach speeds of 20-30 kilometers per hour, sometimes reaching speeds of 40 kilometers per hour during the day. Very light/light rain accompanied by thunderstorms/lightning and strong winds reaching speeds of 50 to 60 kilometers per hour, gusting to 70 kilometers per hour during the evening/night.
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The International Meteorological Department on Friday forecast generally cloudy skies, light or very light rain accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds with speeds ranging between 60 and 70 km per hour reaching 80 km per hour during the morning.
The maximum temperature on Saturday is expected to drop to 34-36 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature will range between 22-24 degrees Celsius. The temperature is expected to rise gradually after Saturday, reaching 39-41 degrees Celsius by June 3.
The city’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded at the upper end of the “moderate” category at 9 a.m., at 199.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’.
