Rain, thunder, hail lash Delhi

Heavy rain and thunderstorms battered parts of the national Capital on Tuesday, dragging temperatures down sharply and triggering a deterioration in air quality. Hailstorms were also reported in some parts of outer Delhi. The national Capital recorded its highest January rainfall in four years since 2022 on Tuesday. The weather department forecasts similar conditions will prevail over Delhi-NCR on Wednesday, with wind speeds expected to touch around 60 km/hr.

With the latest spell of rain, Delhi’s monthly total rainfall for January has risen to 24 mm, making it the highest January total since 2022. The wettest January day in recent years remains January 8, 2022, when the city recorded 40.6 mm of rainfall. At Safdarjung, considered Delhi’s base station, the maximum temperature settled at 16.9 degrees Celsius, 5.2 degrees Celsius below normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 8.0 degrees Celsius, 0.4 degrees Celsius below normal. “Although the conditions for a cold day were met, with the maximum temperature dropping 4.5 to 6.4 degrees below normal and the minimum falling below 10 degrees Celsius, the day cannot be classified as a cold day, as temperatures are expected to rise again tomorrow. This is the first day of satisfying the criteria,” an IMD official said.

According to IMD observations, the average rainfall recorded between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm on Tuesday stood at 4.2 mm at Safdarjung, 14.6 mm at Palam, 3.4 mm at Lodi Road, 14.4 mm at Ridge and 4.0 mm at Ayanagar, while no rainfall was recorded at any station in the preceding 24 hours till 8.30 am.

For Wednesday, the minimum temperature is expected to rise to 12 degrees Celsius, and the maximum temperature is set to increase to 18 degrees Celsius.

The air quality worsened during the day despite rainfall, with Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI settling in the ‘very poor’ category at 336, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Delhi transport contributed 13.2 per cent to the city’s pollution load, followed by Delhi and peripheral industries at 9.2 per cent, residential sources at 3.5 per cent, construction at 1.6 per cent and waste burning at 1.2 per cent, according to the Decision Support System data.