Delhi records highest December rainfall in 15 years, mercury drops to 14.6 degree Celsius

The rain began late Thursday around 2.30 am and continued throughout the day, it said.

According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) data between in the last 24 hours till 8.30 am on Friday, the city logged 9.1 mm of rainfall.

The observatory at Safdarjung — the national capital’s primary weather station — recorded an additional 30.2 mm of rainfall between from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm on Friday, as per the data.

The total rainfall for December stands at 42.8 mm, marking the highest rainfall this month in the last 15 years, based on data from 2009 to 2024 available on the weather department’s website.

Meanwhile, the all-time highest December rainfall was recorded in 1884, when the city received 134.4 mm of rain.

The observatory at Palam registered 31.4 mm rainfall, 34.2 mm in Lodhi Road, 33.4 mm in Ridge, 39 mm in Delhi University and 35 mm in Pusa till 5:30 pm on Friday.

For comparison, the city’s December rainfall in 2023 was trace, while in 2022 it was 0.0 mm, 2021 saw 9.6 mm, and 2020 recorded just 1.6 mm. In 2019, Delhi recorded 33.9 mm of rainfall in December, which now stands as the second-highest in the last 15 years.

Met officials said an active western disturbance and its interaction with easterly winds were causing light to moderate rainfall and thunderstorms over northwest and central India, including the NCR areas of Delhi.

The rain caused waterlogging and traffic snarls in many areas across the city, with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Central Control Room receiving a total of 13 complaints, nine for waterlogging and four for fallen trees.

The Public Works Department (PWD) received one call for waterlogging and one for a fallen tree, the officials said. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) said that by 7 PM they had not received any calls regarding waterlogging or fallen trees.

Mercury also dropped to 9.5 degree celsius, because of the rain, marking the lowest maximum temperature in the last five years. On Thursday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 24.1 degree celsius, according to data from the IMD.

The IMD data showed that in 2023 the lowest daytime temperature drop in December was 15.9 degree Celsius, 15.6 degree Celsius in December, 2022, 17.8 degree Celsius in 2021, 15.2 degree Celsius 2020 and in 14.3 degree Celsius in 2019.

The department said a generally cloudy sky with intermittent rain is likely on Saturday.

Additionally, one or two spells of light rain is expected during the early morning to forenoon, followed by a cloudy sky for the rest of the day, it added.

The predominant surface wind is expected to be from the southeast direction with a speed of less than 4 kmph during the morning hours. Smog or shallow fog is expected in most areas, with moderate fog in isolated places during the morning, the weather office said.

The wind speed is expected to increase, reaching less than 8 kmph from the northeast direction during the afternoon, before decreasing to less than 4 kmph from the northeast during the evening and night. Smog or shallow fog is also likely in the evening and night, it added.

The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to settle at 15 and 12 degree celsius, respectively, it said.

The 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 353 at 4 pm on Friday and of the 35 monitoring stations, one at Nehru Nagar recorded air quality in the “severe” category, while the rest were in the “very poor” and “poor” categories, the data from the SAMEER app 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’.