Residents of Delhi woke up to cloudy skies on Saturday morning after heavy rains lashed the capital. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert and predicted heavy rains on April 4 with temperature fluctuations expected in the coming days. According to the Meteorological Department, two consecutive western disturbances are likely to affect northwest India this week with peak activity on April 4 and 7. Hail is also likely to appear over the region.
As a result of the impact of the Western Disturbance, the weather station has predicted a drop in maximum temperature of 3-5°C by 6 April, a rise of 1-2°C over the next 2 days and then a drop of 2-4°C. Although there is now a rainfall warning for the next 5 days, the IMD has indicated that the mercury is likely to fall below normal (-1.6°C to -3.0°C) to markedly below normal (-3.1°C to -5.0°C) by April 10.
The IMD in its latest weather bulletin said, “Isolated to scattered light to moderate rainfall with isolated thundershowers, lightning and gusty winds (speed reaching 40-50 kmph) likely over Punjab, Haryana Chandigarh and Delhi and East Rajasthan on April 7-8; West Uttar Pradesh on April 8.”
Isolated hail and thundershowers are likely over Delhi and other north-western states – Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana today.
Today’s weather in Delhi
The Met Office has forecast “partly cloudy skies” for Saturday, with it expected to become generally cloudy by mid-morning. The IMD has predicted one or two spells of very light rain or drizzle accompanied by thunderstorm/lightning and gusty winds of 30-40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph during the afternoon to evening.
Maximum temperatures today will be below normal (-1.6°C to -3.0°C) and settle around 29°C to 31°C. Meanwhile, minimum temperatures will be close to normal (-1.5°C to 1.5°C) and most likely around 18°C to 20°C.
Delhi AQI
Air quality in Delhi was recorded in the ‘moderate’ category at 6 am on April 3 with an air quality index (AQI) of 198, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Of the 42 monitoring stations across the city, 24 reported “poor” AQI levels, while the Dr. Karni Singh recorded the best air quality today with an AQI of 93 in the ‘satisfactory’ category.
According to the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 to 100 as “satisfactory”, 101 to 200 as “moderate”, 201 to 300 as “poor”, 301 to 400 as “very poor” and 401 to 500.
