Heavy rain drenched Delhi on Thursday as temperatures dipped to 18.1 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal and 7 degrees less than the maximum temperature on Wednesday. The city received 23.7 mm of rain during the day. The Republic Day parade at Rajpath, however, was mostly spared, with only a light drizzle seen during the morning. The rain also washed away 70 per cent of the rain deficit that the city had been witnessing this winter. WATCH VIDEO | R-Day parade: India displays military might, cultural diversity Light rain is expected on Friday as well. The day, however, is expected to be colder with the maximum temperature expected to be around 17 degrees Celsius and the minimum around 14 degrees Celsius. According to officials at the India Meteorological Department, the downpour was a result of a western disturbance which brought snow to parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh. According to IMD officials at the IGI Met centre, visibility was low at — 400 m to 500m — throughout the day. “This was due to a unique spell of rain and low clouds caused by the very active western disturbance. Normally, such long hours of fog are seen on one or two days each winter, but it looks like this time, the duration — 9 hours — was a record spell in the last 15 years. According to IMD officials, day temperatures during the coming week are expected to be below normal.
