The southwest monsoon further advanced into the northern and the central parts of the country on Thursday as light to moderate showers occurred in several states and the national capital.
A bout of light rain broke a 16-day dry spell in Delhi with monsoon likely to make an onset in the city anytime now, officials said.
The weather stations at Ayanagar, Palam and Jafarpur gauged 17 mm, 5.8 mm and 5 mm of rainfall. The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides official figures for the city, recorded 0.4 mm of precipitation, according to India Meteorological Department data.
Neighbouring areas of Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida received good rainfall and conditions are favourable for monsoon to make an onset in the national capital in the next 48 hours, officials said.
Parts of Rajasthan too received light to moderate rainfall as Pratapgarh and Aaspur recorded 14 cm rainfall each, followed by Lohariya of Banswara (11 cm), Choti Sadri (10 cm) and Sabla and Dhariyawad getting 9 cm rains each.
Sriganganagar was the hottest place in the state with 44.7 degree Celsius, followed by 44.4 in Bikaner, 43.9 in Churu, 42.9 in Jaisalmer and 36.8 degrees Celsius in Jaipur.
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The weatherman has forecast heavy rainfall at a few places in east Rajasthan and light to moderate rainfall in parts of western region of the state till Thursday.
In Himachal Pradesh, the maximum temperature across all districts of the state dropped by 5-6 notches as several parts were lashed by rain in the last 24 hours.
At 100 mm, the maximum rainfall was recorded in Ghumarwin, followed by Nahan (72) and Solan (65).
Tourist destination Dharamshala received 34 mm rainfall, followed by Kasauli (25), Shimla and Dalhousie (11 each), Kangra (7), Theog (6), and Kufri (5).
The highest temperature in the state was recorded in Una at 34 degrees Celsius, while the lowest was 11 degrees Celsius in tribal district Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong.
State capital Shimla recorded a maximum temperature of 25.5 degrees Celsius, while Manali registered a high of 25 degrees Celsius.
Pre-monsoon showers lashed some parts of Punjab and Haryana, bringing much needed respite from the scorching heat.
The maximum temperatures dropped at several places in both the states, including Chandigarh, following the rains which are considered beneficial for kharif crops, especially paddy.
Chandigarh recorded 29 mm of rainfall Thursday morning while Mohali and Panchkula also received rains, the Metrological department said.
The Union Territory recorded a high of 31.5 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal.
In Haryana, Ambala, which received rainfall of 3.4 mm, recorded its maximum at 31.7 degrees Celsius. Bhiwani and Hisar recorded their respective maximums at 40.1 and 40 degrees Celsius.
Amritsar and Ludhiana received rainfall of 15 mm and 4.5 mm, respectively. Maximum temperatures at Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala were 39.4, 32.6 and 32.8 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The Met department has forecast light to moderate rains at a few places in Punjab and Haryana till Friday.
Uttarakhand received heavy showers bringing much needed respite from muggy weather.
Kalsi in Dehradun district received 95 mm of rainfall, the highest in the state, Devprayag in Tehri Garhwal district received 69.5 mm of rainfall followed by 64 mm of rainfall in Ghansali and 48.3 mm of rainfall in Dehradun, the official said.
The day temperature in Dehradun was 22.6 degrees Celsius compared to a minimum of26.3 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, the weatherman said.
The weather department predicts heavy rains in the state till Saturday.
Parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh too received showers.
The MeT office warned of heavy rainfall at a few places with very heavy rainfall at isolated places over west Madhya Pradesh.
It also warned of heavy rainfall in parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, east Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and west Uttar Pradesh.
Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds and lightning are likely at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the weatherman said.