Delhi Weather Update: National Capital records highest December rainfall in 15 years, temperature drops to 14.6°C

Delhi Weather Update: Heavy rainfall hit Delhi-NCR on Friday, marking the highest December rainfall in the past 15 years. The city's temperature plummeted to 14.6 degree celsius, according to the weather department. The rain, which began late Thursday at around 2:30 AM, persisted throughout the day, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported. Over the past 24 hours, until 8:30 AM on Friday, Delhi recorded 9.1 mm of rainfall. The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi’s primary weather station, received an additional 30.2 mm of rain from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM on Friday.

The total rainfall for December has now reached 42.8 mm, the highest for the month in the last 15 years, based on data from 2009 to 2024. In comparison, Delhi’s rainfall in December 2023 was negligible, and in 2022, it was zero. The all-time record for December rainfall was set in 1884, when the city recorded 134.4 mm.

The Palam Observatory received 31.4 mm, Lodhi Road 34.2 mm, Ridge 33.4 mm, Delhi University 39 mm, and Pusa 35 mm of rain by 5:30 PM on Friday. In 2019, the city had 33.9 mm of rain, making it the second-highest December rainfall in the last 15 years.

Met officials attributed the ongoing rainfall to an active western disturbance interacting with easterly winds, which is causing light to moderate rainfall and thunderstorms over northwest and central India, including Delhi NCR.

The rain led to waterlogging and traffic jams in several areas. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi's Central Control Room received 13 complaints, nine for waterlogging and four for fallen trees. The Public Works Department (PWD) received one waterlogging complaint and one for a fallen tree, while the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) reported no issues by 7 PM.

The mercury also dropped to 9.5 degree celsius, marking the lowest maximum temperature in five years. On Thursday, the maximum temperature was 24.1 degree celsius. For context, in December 2023, the lowest daytime temperature was 15.9 degree celsius, and in 2022 it was 15.6 degree celsius.

The IMD forecasted a generally cloudy sky with intermittent rain on Saturday. One or two light rain spells are expected in the morning, followed by cloudy weather for the remainder of the day. Winds will be light, coming from the southeast at speeds of less than 4 kmph during the morning, with smog or shallow fog expected in most areas, and moderate fog in isolated places. Wind speeds will increase to less than 8 kmph in the afternoon, then decrease again during the evening.

Saturday’s maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be 15 degree celsius and 12 degree celsius respectively.

The 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI) at 4 PM on Friday was 353. Of the 35 monitoring stations, one at Nehru Nagar recorded "severe" air quality, while the rest were in the "very poor" or "poor" categories, according to the SAMEER app. 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."

With the inputs of PTI