The national capital saw a sharp drop in the minimum temperature on Saturday, even as the city woke up to a sunny morning.

This comes a day after the city saw moderate rainfall in several parts.

The Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum temperature of 19.8 degrees Celsius, 1.8 degrees below the normal and 4.2 degrees lower than the day before.

Other weather stations showed equally dramatic drops in the minimum. Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 20.1 degrees Celsius, 4.9 degrees lower than Friday's temperature. Ridge logged a minimum of 20.8 degrees, 3.9 degrees lower than the day before.

According to the data by the India Meteorological Department, while several parts of the city recorded rainfall till late hours of Friday, no rain was recorded in the early hours of Saturday.

Safdarjung recorded 12.4 mm of rain till 11.30 pm on Friday but no rain after that, while Palam recorded 18.6 mm of rain till 11.30 pm but there was no rainfall after that.

Meanwhile, forecasts by the IMD show that no rain is likely throughout the weekend.

The maximum temperature, according to the IMD is likely to be around 39-41 degrees Celsius.

The air quality index (AQI) of the city improved drastically to the moderate category and was logged at 177 (moderate) at 9 am on Saturday, compared to the 24-hour average AQI of 263 (poor) recorded at 4 pm on Friday, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board.

As per CPCB standards, 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'.

The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has, however, forecast the AQI to deteriorate to the poor category again by Saturday and remain so in the next few days.

Published on April 18, 2026