Rain mayhem continues in Delhi, ‘yellow alert’ in place for the week

Light to moderate showers continued to batter the Capital on Saturday, even as arterial roads remained waterlogged, leaving commuters in lurch.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a “yellow alert” for the week ahead from Wednesday to Friday, with forecasts suggesting cloudy skies and moderate rain to continue. IMD said that rain and thundershowers will likely put a damper on Independence Day celebrations.
Delhi’s maximum on Saturday was clocked at 32.8°C, one degree below normal, as compared to 34.8°C a day before. The minimum was recorded at 25.8°C, two degrees below normal and marginally lower than 26.6°C that was logged on Friday.
Safdarjung, representative of Delhi’s weather, recorded 17.4mm of rain in 24 hours till 8.30am and 1.3mm of rain between 8.30am and 5.30pm. The humidity in the last 24 hours oscillated between 81% and 100%.
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“Generally cloudy skies along with light to moderate rain and thundershowers at various locations were observed on Saturday. Similar weather conditions are expected on Sunday as well. A yellow alert had been issued for Saturday and also has been issued for Sunday,” said an IMD official.
No alerts have been issued for Monday and Tuesday. However, a yellow alert has already been issued from Wednesday to Friday. IMD issues green, yellow, orange and red alerts to warn people of adverse weather conditions, in an increasing order of intensity.
Among the other weather stations in Delhi, Palam recorded 30.1mm of rain till 8.30am, Lodhi road recorded 20.6mm of rain till 8.30am and 4.2mm of rain after that till 5.30pm, Ridge recorded 17.1mm till 8.30am and 34mm of rain after that. Ayanagar recorded only 2.9mm of rain till 8.30am.
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IMD classifies trace amount of rain to 2.4mm of rain as very light; 2.5mm to 15.5mm as light; 15.6mm to 64.4mm as moderate and 64.5mm to 115.5mm as heavy rain.
According to forecasts by IMD, the maximum is expected to stay between 32°C and 33°C for the next couple of days and the between 25°C and 26°C.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality continued to stay in the “satisfactory” category owing to the recent spells of rain. The air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 71 (satisfactory) at 4pm on Saturday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily national bulletin. The AQI was 60 (satisfactory) on Friday and 53 (satisfactory) on Thursday.
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has forecast the air quality to stay “satisfactory” till Tuesday.
“The air quality is likely to be in ‘satisfactory’ category from August 10 to August 13. The outlook for subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in ‘satisfactory’ to ‘moderate’ categories,” AQEWS said in their bulletin on Saturday.