NEW DELHI: Rain lashed parts of Delhi-NCR on Tuesday morning, bringing relief from rising temperatures, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for next two days. On Monday, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 33.3 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung, 1.8 degrees below normal. Across monitoring stations, temperatures stayed below the seasonal average. Palam recorded a maximum of 32.2 degrees Celsius, while Lodhi Road and Ayanagar reported around 33.0 degrees Celsius each. The Ridge station registered the highest maximum temperature in the city at 34.4 degrees Celsius. The IMD has issued a yellow alert for Tuesday and Wednesday, forecasting thunderstorms accompanied by light rain and gusty winds. A further dip in temperatures is expected on Wednesday, with the maximum likely to hover around 31 degrees Celsius and the minimum around 20 degrees Celsius. Temperatures are expected to rise again from April 10, according to news agency ANI. The shift in weather conditions is being attributed to changing wind patterns and the influence of a western disturbance, which is likely to bring intermittent cloud cover and isolated rainfall over the national capital region. Minimum temperatures also remained below normal across Delhi. Safdarjung recorded 17.7 degrees Celsius, while Palam logged 17.9 degrees Celsius. Lodhi Road and Ayanagar were slightly cooler at 16.6 degrees Celsius and 16.7 degrees Celsius, respectively. The Ridge station recorded 17.8 degrees Celsius, indicating relatively mild early morning conditions. Delhi’s air quality remained in the “moderate” category, with an AQI of 134 on Tuesday. According to forecasts, the air quality is expected to stay in the “moderate” category until April 9. According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.
