Delhi rain brought the capital’s maximum temperature below 30 degrees Celsius for the first time this month on Thursday, while disrupting air travel and pushing the city’s October rainfall total to 3.8 times its normal level. Five Delhi-bound flights were diverted and more than 400 flights were delayed during the day, according to flight-tracking data cited in the report.
The India Meteorological Department attributed the showers to a western disturbance. DR Pattanaik, an IMD scientist, said the system’s influence was expected to continue until Friday, when Delhi could receive another spell of very light to light rain.
Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, recorded 15.9 mm of rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm on Thursday. The station had received another 41.6 mm on October 12, taking the month’s total rainfall to 57.5 mm. The normal rainfall for the entire month of October is 15.1 mm.
Rainfall was recorded across several parts of the city. The Ridge observatory in north Delhi received 25.2 mm during the period, followed by Rajghat at 23.2 mm, Lodhi Road at 20 mm, Mayur Vihar at 13 mm, Palam at 11.2 mm, Ayanagar in south-west Delhi at 7.2 mm and Pusa at 6 mm.
The weather also affected airport operations. Five flights bound for Delhi from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and Bhopal were diverted to Jaipur. A freighter flight from Macau was diverted to Noida International Airport. Flight Radar24 data cited in the report showed that more than 400 flights were delayed during the day.
The maximum temperature fell to 28.3 degrees Celsius, five degrees below normal, from 33.3 degrees Celsius a day earlier. The lowest maximum temperature recorded in Delhi during October last year was 26.4 degrees Celsius on October 28. The minimum temperature on Thursday was 23.3 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal.
The IMD forecast the maximum temperature to remain between 29 and 31 degrees Celsius on Friday, before rising to between 31 and 33 degrees Celsius during the weekend. The minimum temperature is expected to fall to between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius on Friday and remain between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius on Saturday. Rain is unlikely between October 17 and 22, according to the forecast cited in the report.
Delhi’s air quality remained in the moderate category, with an Air Quality Index reading of 149. The Air Quality Early Warning System forecast that air quality could improve to the satisfactory category on Friday after the rain, before possibly returning to the moderate range.
