New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS): Delhi woke up to a cloudy sky on Wednesday morning even as the meteorological department issued an orange alert with a possibility of moderate rains and thunderstorms later in the day.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, moderate rains with thunderstorms are likely at several parts of the national capital along with adjoining cities such as Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram.

The weather department's orange alert means 'be prepared'. Moderate rains in IMD parlance is 15.6 mm to 64.4 mm rainfall. The IMD has issued a 'yellow' alert for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and predicted very light rain on Friday. With 'Yellow alert', IMD is simply asking to 'Be Aware'.

After a few days break, showers returned again and in the last 24 hours, Safdarjung observatory has recorded 4 mm rainfall, ending at 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday.

In the same time span, Lodhi Road observatory recorded 1.5 mm rain and 18 mm rain was recorded at Ridge. While other parts of the city observed dry spell, according to IMD data.

The maximum temperature on Tuesday was recorded at 35.6 degree Celsius, a notch below normal, while the minimum was at 26 degree Celsius, a notch below normal.

The maximum temperature on Wednesday will hover around 32 degrees Celsius and the minimum will be around 26 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the city's air quality has slightly improved and in some parts it was recorded under 'good' category while in some parts of the city it was under the 'moderate' category.