Rain forecast on Friday, max temperature in Delhi likely to drop

IMD’s forecast for the next six days shows there are chances of the Capital receiving light rain till Tuesday

Delhi-NCR woke up to overcast skies on Thursday, with some areas receiving a drizzle early in the day. While no rainfall was recorded at any Delhi weather station till 5.30pm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said there were chances of some areas recording light rain before Friday morning. Drizzle was also recorded in some parts of Sohna, Palwal, Nuh, Aurangabad, Faridabad, Ballabgarh and Manesar in Haryana.

Delhi witnessed overcast skies on Thursday morning. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

IMD’s forecast for the next six days shows there are chances of the Capital receiving light rain till Tuesday. The IMD forecast also predicts a dip in maximum temperature, with Safdarjung likely to record a maximum of 30°C on both Friday and Saturday, and the mercury set to dip below the 30-degree mark in some areas.

Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD, said the western disturbance influencing northwest India brought rain to some parts of NCR, with peak rain activity during this spell likely between Friday night and Saturday morning. “We will see very light rain on-and-off till Tuesday, with chances of some weather stations recording light rainfall between Friday night and Saturday morning. There will be moisture in the atmosphere for the next few days, which will bring very local spells of rain,” he said.

A western disturbance refers to an area of “disturbed” or reduced air pressure, moving from the west to the east, carrying with it moisture associated with rainfall, snowfall and fog in northern India.

So far this month, only “trace” rainfall was recorded at Safdarjung, while 0.4mm of rainfall was recorded at Palam. Normally, Delhi receives 17.4mm of rain in March according to its long-period average.

Despite the cloudy skies in the morning, Safdarjung, representational of Delhi’s weather, recorded a maximum temperature of 33.9°C--five degrees above normal--down from 34.3°C the day before. Delhi’s minimum temperature was meanwhile recorded at 20.6°C --also five degrees above normal.

In terms of air quality, Delhi’s air remained in the “poor” category on Thursday, but showed a slight deterioration over the last 24 hours. The Capital’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) reading was 259 (poor) on Thursday according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily national bulletin, a few notches above Wednesday’s AQI reading of 213 (poor).

Forecasts by the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi, used by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR, showed air quality could improve to the “moderate” range by Friday, due to the rain and an increase in wind speed.

An AQI reading between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.

“The air quality is likely to remain in the ‘poor’ category on Thursday. It is then likely to improve and will be in the ‘moderate’ category from Friday till Sunday,” said EWS.