NEW DELHI: Delhi woke up to another spell of rain on Saturday, with several parts of the national capital receiving light to moderate showers in the early hours. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for the day and forecast more rain across the city.The minimum temperature at Safdarjung, which represents the city’s weather, was recorded at 24.7 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees below normal and 0.9 degree lower than Friday. Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 22.5 degrees Celsius, down 0.7 degree from the previous day. Lodhi Road recorded 24.4 degrees Celsius, while Ayanagar recorded 24.7 degrees, a decline of 0.1 degree from Friday.Rain was reported from several weather stations during the early hours. Safdarjung received 16.6 mm of rain between 11.30 pm on Friday and 2.30 am on Saturday, followed by another 1.6 mm in the subsequent three hours. Palam recorded 10.2 mm between 11.30 pm and 2.30 am and another 3.4 mm between 2.30 am and 5.30 am.Pusa recorded 13 mm of rainfall until 2.30 am and another 16 mm thereafter.The IMD has forecast very light to moderate rain in Delhi on Saturday, with similar weather conditions likely to persist over the next few days.“There is a possibility of very light rain to light rain at many places on Saturday, with moderate rain at isolated places during early hours to noon. Another spell of very light to light rain is possible at many places in the evening or night,” said an IMD official.The maximum temperature is expected to remain around 30-32 degrees Celsius, according to the IMD forecast.Delhi has also witnessed an exceptionally wet start to August. The capital recorded 127 mm of rainfall during the first seven days of the month, making it the wettest first week of August since 2011. Relentless rain lashed several parts of the city through Friday, with multiple weather stations recording more than 100 mm of rainfall over the day.According to the IMD, Delhi received its highest rainfall during the first week of August in 15 years on Friday.Meanwhile, the city’s air quality remained in the ‘satisfactory’ category on Saturday morning. The AQI stood at 59 at 9 am, compared with the 24-hour average AQI of 63 recorded at 4 pm on Friday, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.As per CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.
