New Delhi, Jun 17 (IANS): Intermittent rain in the national capital on Friday brought down the temperature by 3.5 degree Celsius, giving much needed relief to the residents of the city.

In the past 9 hours, from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., a total of 11.9 mm of rainfall was recorded at the Safdarjung observatory due to which the city recorded a maximum temperature of 36.7 degree Celsius, 3.5 degrees less compared to the previous day.

The maximum temperature at other areas was Ayanagar and Lodhi Road 37.2 degrees, Palam 37.6, Ridge 36.2, Jafarpur 37.4, Mungeshpur 36.3, Najafgarh 39, Pitampura 37.3, and Salwan Public School 34.3 degree Celsius.

As per IMD update at 8.30 p.m., the city was having a relative humidity of 87 per cent and the wind was blowing in the south-southeasterly direction at a speed of 7.5 Km per hour.

Meanwhile, due to the rain spell, the air quality in the national capital has drastically improved.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city was 96 for PM10 and 30 for PM2.5. Delhi has 36 monitoring stations that accurately record the levels of both particulate matters.

Usually, the air quality is categorised as 'good' when the AQI is between 0 to 50; 'satisfactory' between 51-100; 'moderate' between 101-200; 'poor' between 201-300; 'very poor' between 301-400; 'severe' between 401-500; and 'hazardous' at over 500.