Delhi likely to witness light rainfall, says IMD

New Delhi, July 3 The Delhiites on Monday woke up to a pleasant morning as minimum temperature settled at 26 degree Celsius, two notches below the season's average, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, adding that the national capital was likely to get light rainfall.

The minimum and maximum temperatures in the national capital on Sunday settled at 26 degrees Celsius and 37 degrees Celsius respectively.

The weather office on Sunday also said that the Southwest monsoon that began over the Kerala coast on June 8 has now covered the entire country, including Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab.

It said that this coverage occurred six days earlier than the normal date of July 8.

For Monday, the weather man has predicted a generally cloudy sky with "light" rain in Delhi-NCR and the maximum temperature is likely to hover around 37 degrees Celsius.

The relative humidity at 8.30 a.m. was recorded at 76 per cent.

Over the next few days, the maximum temperature is forecasted to be above 33 degree Celsius and below 36, and minimum temperature is shown to be below 27 degrees Celsius and above 24.

In the coming days, the IMD has predicted moderate rain, rain or thundershowers.

The IMD has also said that there are high probabilities for the development of El Nino conditions over the equatorial Pacific Ocean and positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions over the Indian Ocean during July to September 2023.

El Nino is a weather phenomenon that involves an abnormal warming up of water surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, and tends to suppress monsoon rainfall in India.

Meanwhile, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded in the 'satisfactory' category with a reading of 100 at 8 a.m., the Central Pollution Control Board data showed.

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.'