With light rainfall and gusty winds, the national capital after a long time enjoyed respite on Thursday as the maximum temperature hovered around 40 degrees celsius. However, the heat index or feel like temperature for the city was recorded at 48.5 degrees celsius.

The highest temperature recorded in Delhi stood at 40.6 degrees celsius at par with the normal while the minimum settled at 29 degrees celsius, one notch above the normal, recorded at  the Aya nagar weather station.

After a long and harsh spell of heatwave, Delhi witnessed a pleasant morning on Thursday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted a generally cloudy sky, with the possibility of very light rain and gusty winds during the day along with dust storms and thunderstorms accompanied by lightning.

Temperatures dropped across different parts of the city as most of the weather stations recorded temperatures below 40 degrees. Najafgarh recorded 38 degrees celsius, Aya nagar at 40.6 degrees, Lodi road at 39.4 degrees, Palam at 39.6 degrees, Ridge at 38.6 degrees, Safdarjung 40 degrees, Pitampura at 39.7 degrees, Pragati maidan at 37.7 degrees, Pusa at 38.1 degrees, Rajghat at 37.7 degrees, Salwan Public school at 38 degrees and Jafarpur at 40 degrees.

Gusty winds with speed of 30-50 km/ph sweeped over Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas in the pre-noon period on Thursday.  The department has also predicted a partly cloudy sky with the possibility of rain, thunderstorm or dust storm on Friday and Saturday.

Humidity on Thursday was 67 per cent at 8.30 am and 41 per cent at 5:30 pm. The minimum temperature was 29.6 degrees celsius and the maximum is likely to settle around 42 degrees celsius. Meanwhile, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital at 9 am was recorded in the "poor" category with a reading of 214, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.