By: Express News ServiceNew Delhi | October 8, 2025 05:30 AM IST 3 min readThis is the second day in a row when Delhi received heavy showers (Express/Praveen Khanna)Dark clouds blanketed the Capital on Tuesday as heavy rain brought down the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) to 73, in the ‘Satisfactory’ category — the cleanest reading in over two years for the month of October. The last time Delhi had recorded better air this month was on October 11, 2022, when the AQI was 66.According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the last ‘Satisfactory’ day was recorded on October 3 this month, when the AQI was recorded at 88.The improvement followed widespread showers and gusty winds over Delhi-NCR for two days in a row. This, coupled with winds and minimal incidents of farm fires, aided the dispersal of pollutants. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), south-easterly winds prevailed, with speeds up to 15 kmph and gusts reaching 46 kmph.Story continues below this adWith Tuesday’s rainfall, Delhi’s October tally has climbed to 75 mm — five times higher than the month’s normal of 15.1 mm.At Palam Airport, visibility fell from 6,000 m at 1.30 pm to 1,200 m by 5 pm, according to the IMD.Many parts of Delhi-NCR appeared gloomy during the day, as showers continued, brought on by the impact of a Western Disturbance over north Rajasthan and adjoining Haryana.Till 5.30 pm, the Palam weather station recorded 41.6 mm of rainfall, followed by Ridge (37 mm), Pusa (22.5 mm) and Mayur Vihar (20 mm). The city’s primary weather station at Safdarjung recorded 5.8 mm of rainfall.Story continues below this adGhaziabad, adjoining Noida in Uttar Pradesh, received 33.5 mm of rainfall.The change in weather also caused a sharp dip in temperatures. Delhi’s day temperature settled at 29.8 degree Celsius, 4.4 notches below normal. The minimum temperature was recorded at 21 degree celsius, 1.3 notches below normal.However, Tuesday’s rain could be the last spell of rain this month, as the forecasts in subsequent days do not signal possibility of rain. The IMD has forecasted cloudy skies on Wednesday, with day and night temperatures expected around 31 degree Celsius and 20 degree Celsius, respectively.This is likely to be followed by mainly clear conditions later in the week.Story continues below this adThe AQI is expected to remain in the ‘Satisfactory’ to ‘Moderate’ range over the next two days.Satellite data from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute detected five farm fire incidents across six North Indian states on Tuesday. All were from Madhya Pradesh, with none reported in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. Between September 15 and October 7, only 215 incidents of farm fires have been recorded.Data from the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management indicated that vehicular emissions contributed the most to Delhi’s pollution load at 15.3%, followed by local pollutants from Gautam Buddha Nagar at 6.8% and Gurgaon at 6.76%.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Delhi air qualityDelhi rainfall