NEW DELHI: A day after experiencing strong winds and heavy rain, the city continues to see overcast skies, with some areas experiencing very light rain on Thursday. This led to a drop in the maximum temperatures by seven degrees Celsius at the base station, expected to drop further on Friday.Met has issued a yellow alert for rain and thunderstorms on Friday as well. The city experienced a sudden change in weather on Wednesday evening, marked by strong winds, thunderstorms, and intense rain showers, which were caused by the western disturbance and the formation of convective clouds, the impact of which lingers.However, the intensity of the rain was very low. Between 8.30am and 5.30pm, Safdarjung and Lodhi Road logged 0.5 mm, Palam 0.2 mm, Ayanagar 1.2 mm, Rajghat 0.6 mm and Mayur Vihar 3 mm of rainfall, respectively. This had a direct impact on the daytime temperatures.On Thursday, the city’s base station, Safdarjung, recorded a maximum temperature of 26.8 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal, against 33.8 degrees Celsius a day earlier.The minimum temperature was recorded at 17.6 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, compared to 18 degrees Celsius the day before.The weather department expects a fall in the maximum temperature.“Slight fall by 2-3°C in maximum temperatures during the next 24 hours and gradual rise by 3-4°C thereafter… Generally cloudy sky. A spell of very light rain accompanied by thunderstorms and strong surface winds of 30-40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph is likely in the morning. One or two spells of light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms and strong surface winds of 30-40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph in the forenoon to evening on March 20,” stated IMD.As per IMD, the maximum temperature is likely to hover around 23-25 degrees Celsius on Friday.Meanwhile, the air quality improved to moderate levels from poor a day earlier. The air quality index (AQI), on a scale of 0 to 500, was 137 on Thursday, against 232, or poor, a day earlier.“The air quality is likely to be in the moderate category from March 20 to March 22,” stated air quality early warning system.
