Heavy rains lash parts of Delhi; more downpour expected during the day

Heavy rains lashed parts of the national capital on Friday morning bringing much-needed respite from heat as the minimum temperature fell five notches to 22.8 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The weather office said the city received 7 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Friday. The maximum temperature during the day is expected to settle at 37 degrees Celsius.

The Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC) has predicted thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity rains in the next few hours in the national capital.

"Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain would occur over and adjoining areas of Delhi-NCR (Ghaziabad, Chhapraula, Dadri, Greater Noida, Ballabhgarh) Nazibabad, Kandhla, Bijnaur, Chandpur, Kithor, Amroha, Moradabad, Garhmukteshwar, Pilakhua,.... during next two hours," RWFC tweeted.

The relative humidity was recorded at 88 per cent at 8:30 am.

The IMD has predicted thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds in Delhi over the next five days.

Delhi's air quality remained in the moderate category as the Air Quality Index (AQI) was 132, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

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'.