Delhi witnessed an unusually cold October day on Friday, October 30, with the maximum temperature at Safdarjung plunging to 20.7 degrees Celsius, the lowest recorded for the month since 1951. This comes a day after Delhi recorded its coldest October day in four years.
The interaction of a western disturbance with Cyclone Arnab brought isolated spells rainfall across the city and adjoining areas such as Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, Noida and Haryana’s Gurugram, resulting in a sharp drop in maximum temperatures. Delhi also recorded its cleanest October air in more than a decade. The national capital recorded an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 167 this October, the lowest for the month since 2015, according to an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The Safdarjung observatory, the primary and official reference weather station for New Delhi, recorded 61.4 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Friday. This was the sixth-highest 24-hour rainfall recorded in October at the observatory since 1951. The highest 24-hour rainfall for October at Safdarjung remains 172.7 mm, recorded on October 1, 1954. The second-highest was 110.9 mm on October 9, 1956, followed by 87.9 mm on October 18, 2021. Friday’s rainfall also pushed Safdarjung’s cumulative October precipitation to 123.3 mm, making October 2026 the fourth-wettest October at the observatory since 1951, based on rainfall recorded up to October 30.
