New Delhi: The national capital saw a sharp fall in temperatures along with significantly cleaner air on Friday after days of persistent rain and gusty winds. The city recorded its coldest March day in six years while air quality improved to the ‘satisfactory’ category after nearly five months. After last evening’s rainfall, a thick blanket of fog covered parts of Delhi.
Coldest March day in 6 years
The maximum temperature at Safdarjung was recorded at 21.7 degrees C, which is 9.6 degrees below normal on Friday. This makes it the coldest March day since March 8, 2020, when the mercury stood at 21.2 degrees C.
For Saturday (March 21), Delhi is expected to see partly cloudy skies, with temperatures ranging between 13–15 degrees C and 26–28 degrees C.
Cleanest air in 5 months
Following the rainfall, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) improved to 93 on Friday, placing it in the ‘satisfactory’ category. This is the first such reading in about five months (161 days). The last similar instance was recorded on October 9, 2025, when AQI stood at 99.
At 6 am today (Saturday), Delhi’s AQI was recorded at 96.
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’, according to CPCB standards.
Delhi rain, snow in J&K and Himachal
Delhi recorded 7 mm of rainfall during the day, pushing the monthly total to 16.2 mm so far. This makes it the wettest March in three years since 2023.
The highest maximum temperature observed in the plains of Northwest India was 37.6 degrees C at Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).
The lowest minimum temperature observed in the plains of Northwest India was 10.0 degrees C at Gurugram (Punjab).
Rain and snow were reported over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while thunderstorms, hail and gusty winds were observed in several states including Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.