Residents of Delhi woke up to a rare double delight on Wednesday: a sky softened by rain-laden clouds and the cleanest air the city has breathed in more than eight months. The downpour and cool winds continued for the second day, bringing respite from the searing heat and giving residents a break from Delhi’s usual polluted skies.

The city’s average air quality index (AQI) dropped to 81, squarely in the “satisfactory” category—its best reading since September 29 last year, when the AQI touched 76. This marks just the third “satisfactory” air day of 2025. The last two occurred in March. A “good” air day, with an AQI below 51, remains elusive—the last was recorded nearly two years ago, on September 10, 2023.

The improvement came on the back of continued rain and gusty winds. In the 24 hours leading up to 8.30am Wednesday, Delhi recorded 29mm of rain, pushing the June rainfall total to 87.8mm—already 18% above the long-term average of 74.1mm for the month.

More rain is forecast in the coming days as the southwest monsoon creeps closer to the Capital.

Although Wednesday saw no rain during the day, overcast skies and a persistent breeze held temperatures in check. The maximum temperature dipped to 34.2°C—five degrees below normal—while the minimum settled at 24.2°C, three degrees below average.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, forecasting light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms and winds gusting up to 60 km/hr. “The monsoon is steadily advancing across northwest India and may reach Delhi sometime next week,” an IMD official said.

On Wednesday, IMD said the monsoon had progressed further into Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, east Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and parts of Bihar. Conditions remain favourable for further advance over remaining areas of Rajasthan, Bihar, parts of Uttar Pradesh, and eventually into Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Delhi in the next few days.

Delhi usually sees the monsoon arrive by June 27, but early rainfall in May and June this year has set the stage for an early onset. May 2025 was Delhi’s wettest on record, with 186.4mm of rainfall—more than six times the normal average of 30.7mm.

Last year, the monsoon reached Delhi on June 25, and the city went on to log 243.4mm of rainfall that month—over three times the June average.

With rains likely to continue, Delhi may avoid heatwave conditions entirely in the coming week. “There is enough moisture in the air to sustain overcast skies and periodic showers. The possibility of a heatwave is minimal,” the IMD official added.

Meanwhile, data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) shows the Capital has logged 80 “moderate” air days this year, 68 “poor,” and 18 “very poor” days. While the number of “severe” days has declined compared to 2024, experts attribute the improvement largely to favourable weather rather than structural pollution control measures.