Delhi braces for another day of light to moderate rainfall, thunderstorms and gusty winds on Friday as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for the national capital city.
Several areas in the city woke up to rain on 20 March, which is expected to continue throughout the day.
In its local weather report, the IMD issued a yellow alert to “watch and be updated” for Delhi, predicting that it will witness “light to moderate rainfall, thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and gusty winds (30-40kmph)”.
Earlier, the Met Dept said Delhi, Noida, Dadri and Greater Noida can expect "hailstorm and thunderstorm with moderate rainfall and lightning (40–50 kmph gusty winds)".
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Why is it raining in North India? Mahesh Palawat of Skymet told PTI that the Western disturbance is currently positioned over North Pakistan and adjoining Jammu and Kashmir, “which is why the western Himalayan regions are witnessing heavy rainfall.”
He noted that an induced cyclonic circulation over Haryana is also leading to rainfall across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.
Palawat told PTI that although earlier forecasts indicated stronger rainfall activity, “the system is now moving towards the eastern parts of the country, and conditions are likely to remain similar to what is being experienced at present.”
He also warned that the pre-monsoon activity has also arrived earlier than usual. “Typically, it begins towards the end of March, but this time it has been advanced.”
Palawat highlighted that this is because the first 10 days of March recorded unusually high temperatures, and the western disturbance was more intense. “As a result, the pre-monsoon phase has been preponed.”
Wettest March since 2023 On Thursday, the national capital batted through rain and gusty winds, making March the wettest in three years. The average precipitation in the city was recorded at 9.4 mm.
At Safdarjung, the city's base station, 9.4 mm of average rainfall has been recorded till 19 March against a normal monthly average of 12.6 mm.
The last time higher rainfall was recorded in March was in 2023, when the monthly total was 50.4 mm, underscoring the intensity of the current rain spell.
The average precipitation in Delhi on Thursday was 9.4 mm.
Safdarjung: 8.2 mm
Palam: 6.2 mm
Lodhi Road: 8.2 mm
Ridge: 8.6 mm
Ayanagar: 7.2 mm
Pitampura: 5.5 mm
Pusa: 11.0 mm
Mayur Vihar: 3.0 mm
Janakpuri: 12.5 mm Several other areas across Delhi also reported light rainfall on Wednesday.
Temperature drops to its lowest Bringing a respite from the warmer days in early March, this persistent cloud cover and intermittent rainfall caused Delhi's day temperature to dip sharply by almost 6 degrees Celsius on Thursday.
The maximum temperature settled at 26.8 degrees Celsius, the lowest so far this month.
On Thursday, maximum temperatures across the city remained below normal, with Safdarjung and Lodhi Road recording 26.8 degrees Celsius, 4.5 and 3.2 degrees below normal.
Delhi AQI The heavy downpour and strong winds also helped improve Delhi's already improving air quality by dispersing the pollutants
Delhi's AQI stood at 137 in the "moderate" category, improving from the "poor" category recorded on Wednesday.
According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 to 100 "satisfactory", 101 to 200 "moderate", 201 to 300 "poor", 301 to 400 "very poor" and 401 to 500 "severe".