A western disturbance is set to bring light rain to Delhi, even as winter chill has eased over the past few days. The capital recorded its warmest January day in seven years on Thursday, with the maximum temperature touching 27.1 degrees Celsius. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Friday, forecasting light to moderate rainfall over Delhi in the coming days.
IMD officials said the western disturbance will trigger multiple spells of light to moderate rain throughout Friday. The department stated that skies over Delhi-NCR will remain generally cloudy, with very light to light rain accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds blowing at 30–40 kmph. The bulletin also warned of shallow to moderate fog during the morning hours.
According to IMD, one or two spells of light rain with thunderstorms and gusty winds are likely from early morning to forenoon on Friday, followed by another round of very light to light rain during the afternoon and evening. The weather agency has also predicted the influence of another western disturbance over northwest India between January 26 and 28, which is expected to push minimum temperatures higher.
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IMD warning in place as rain likely to ease pollution levels
Delhi’s air quality showed marginal improvement on Thursday. The average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 313 (very poor) at 8 am, compared to 330 recorded on Wednesday evening. IMD expects higher wind speeds on Friday to help disperse pollutants and further improve air quality in the national capital.
The improvement in AQI prompted the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to revoke Stage-III restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR with immediate effect on Thursday. The GRAP sub-committee observed that favourable meteorological conditions had led to better air quality, with Delhi’s AQI recorded at 322 on Thursday. Forecasts by IMD and IITM suggest that AQI is likely to remain in the ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ category in the coming days, leading the panel to unanimously withdraw Stage-III curbs across NCR.
IMD has also warned of severe weather across parts of north India. The department has forecast heavy rain, hailstorms and thunderstorms with gusty winds over parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.
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