India, May 2 -- A day after rain and hail lashed parts of the Capital, bringing respite from the intense heat, the city on Friday witnessed a departure from above-normal temperatures, with the maximum recorded at 36.4 degrees Celsius, 2.9 notches below normal. The weather office has forecast a partly-cloudy sky, with possibility of thunderstorm and lightning later in the night. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city's base weather station at Safdarjung recorded 36.4 degrees Celsius as maximum temperature, while the minimum settled at 22.8 degrees Celsius, 1.9 notches below normal. Also Read - Catch the rain 2026: 'Neera' drives city's mega water mission Station-wise data showed Palam recorded a maximum of 35.1 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal, while Lodhi Road logged 34.6 degrees Celsius, 3.4 degrees below normal. The Ridge station recorded a maximum temperature of 34.9 degrees Celsius, 5.1 notches below normal, while Ayanagar registered 35.4 degrees Celsius, 5.4 notches below normal. Simultaneously, weather stations across Delhi recorded below-normal minimum temperatures too. Palam recorded a minimum of 21.3 degrees Celsius, 4.3 notches below normal, while Lodhi Road logged 21.8 degrees Celsius, 1.2 notches below normal. The Ridge recorded a minimum of 20.4 degrees Celsius, 4.6 notches below normal, while Ayanagar registered 21.4 degrees Celsius, 2.2 notches below normal. Meanwhile, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded in the 'moderate' category at 119 in the evening. According to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) SAMEER app, 29 monitoring stations logged AQI readings in the 'moderate' category, 14 in the 'satisfactory' category, and one in the 'very poor' category. As per CPCB norms, an AQI of 0 to 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.