Delhi continued to receive light to moderate rainfall on Thursday with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an ‘orange alert’ today and ‘yellow alert’ for Friday.

From 11:30pm on Wednesday to 8:30am on Thursday, Palam recorded the highest rainfall at 23.8mm. (HT Photo)

An orange rainfall warning means “Be Prepared” for heavy to very heavy rain (typically 115.6 mm to 204.4 mm in 24 hours) while a yellow rainfall warning means “Be Aware” (typically 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm in 24 hours).

Multiple parts of Delhi received light showers late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. From 11:30pm on Wednesday to 8:30am on Thursday, Palam recorded the highest rainfall at 23.8mm, followed by Naraina 23.5mm, and Janakpuri at 17.5mm.

During the same period, Pusa recorded 6.5mm, followed by Chhatarpur at 4.5mm, and Mayur Vihar at 3.5mm. Safdarjung, the city’s base station for weather, recorded 3.1mm of rainfall during the same period.

At around 9:15am, the IMD issued a red alert for Shahdara, east, south east, central, and south Delhi, most parts of north east, central, along with parts of west, north west, and north Delhi, predicting heavy rain with thunderstorms and lightning in the same parts.

Multiple spells of very light to light rain at most places with moderate rain at a few places during the early morning to noon is predicted for Friday, while another spell of very light to light rain is likely towards evening or night.

The IMD categorizes rainfall up to 15.5mm as light, between 15.6mm to 64.4mm as ‘moderate’, between 64.5mm to 115.5mm as ‘heavy’, and between 115.6mm to 204.4mm as ‘very heavy’.

Also Read: Delhi under yellow alert as multiple spells of rain likely through the week, says IMD

Experts have stated that the increased rain over the past few days, after a number of days with no significant rain, was due to the monsoon trough returning to be positioned over northern India.

“The rains have picked up across Delhi as the excess of the monsoon trough that was over central and western India has started to move back to its position over the foothills of the Himalayas. Such scattered rain seen today is likely to be seen today as well, with only around 30% to 60% of NCR seeing strong showers, while other areas get light rain or remain completely dry. In the coming two weeks, NCR is likely to continue seeing days like today, with a few days with heavy rains in some parts of the region,” said Ashwary Tiwari, founder of Indiametsky weather.

AQI ‘satisfactory’

The city’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 80 around 11:05am, in the “satisfactory” category.

Due to the rain, the maximum temperature is expected to be between 31°C to 33°C, rising to 33°C to 35°C on Saturday. Thursday’s minimum temperature was recorded at 25.6°C.