Delhi records highest rainfall for Jan in last 32 years; max temp dips to season's lowest

New Delhi: Delhi has recorded nearly 70 mm of rainfall in January this year, as on Saturday, the highest in the month in the last 32 years, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

A senior IMD official said Delhi registered 69.8 mm of rainfall by 9.30 pm on Saturday.

It is the highest since January 1989 when the capital received 79.7 mm rainfall, he said.

According to the IMD, rain on Saturday brought down the maximum temperature to 14.7 degrees Celsius, seven notches below the average and also the lowest for the season so far. The

Safdarjung Observatory, which is considered the official marker for the city, had recorded 5 mm rainfall till 8 am on Saturday.

The minimum temperature settled at 11.5 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season's average, the IMD said.

Widespread rainfall is likely over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan from January 21 to January 23 due to a Western Disturbance, the IMD had said. The relative humidity recorded at 5.30 pm was 84 per cent, the weather office said.

The weatherman has predicted generally cloudy sky with light rain or drizzle for Sunday. The maximum and minimum temperature are likely to settle around 16 and 10 degrees Celsius, respectively. Delhi's air quality was recorded in the ''very poor'' category on Saturday. The 24hour air quality index (AQI) read 316 at 4 pm, Central Pollution Control Board data showed.

The AQI of Faridabad (330) and Gurgaon (304) also recorded in the ''very poor'' category.

While the AQI of neighbouring Ghaziabad (287), Greater Noida (260) and Noida (277) recorded in " poor" category.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".