Fog, light rain likely over weekend in Delhi, says IMD

According to forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi (AQEWS), however, the air quality is likely to deteriorate to the very poor category over the weekend.

New Delhi:The Capital’s minimum temperature dipped sharply again on Friday, amid a yellow alert issued by the India Meteorological department (IMD) for the weekend, warning of possible rain, thunderstorms and moderate to dense fog.

Moderate fog is expected at many places on Saturday morning, with dense fog at some isolated places, said IMD officials. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

“Moderate fog is expected at many places on Saturday morning, with dense fog at some isolated places. There is also a possibility of very light rain, accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning, gusty winds reaching speeds of 30-40 kmph. Similar conditions are likely to continue on Sunday,” said an IMD official, adding that very light rain may continue on Monday as well, though no yellow alert has been issued for the day.

The weather condition is being influenced by another western disturbance. So far, two such disturbances have led to Delhi’s base weather station, Safdarjung, recording 25.4 mm of rain, 38% more than the long-period average of 18.4mm, added officials.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature was recorded at 7.7°C on Friday, 0.7°C below the normal. The minimum temperature was 11°C on Thursday.

“The minimum temperature is expected to fall further on Saturday to around 6-8°C.However, this might see a sudden increase on Sunday due to intense cloudy conditions over the weekend, when it is likely to range around 11-13°C,” said the IMD official.

The Capital’s air quality continued to remain in the poor category. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 253 (poor) at 4pm on Friday, as compared to 226 (poor) a day before, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

According to forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi (AQEWS), however, the air quality is likely to deteriorate to the very poor category over the weekend.

“The air quality is likely to be in the very poor category from Saturday to Monday. Over the subsequent six days, it is likely to be in the very poor to poor category,” said the AQEWS bulletin on Friday evening.