Rainy weekend in store for Delhi, Met predicts in weather update

The rain will be accompanied by gusty winds with speeds of upto 30-40 km/hr, making for another cold day, with the maximum temperature expected to hover around 15-16° on Saturday

New Delhi:

People taking a morning walk on a cold winter morning at Nehru Park. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

After a sunny Friday, Delhi is expected to witness a wet and windy Saturday with light to moderate showers expected to hit the Capital during the day, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast.

The rain will be accompanied by gusty winds with speeds of upto 30-40 km/hr, making for another cold day, with the maximum temperature expected to hover around 15-16 degrees Celsius (°C) on Saturday, IMD said.

When the maximum temperature is 4.5 degrees or lower than normal, while the minimum is below 10°C, the IMD classifies it as a ‘cold day’.

Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 19.6°C on Friday – two degrees below normal for this time of year, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 7.6°C, which is normal for this time of the year. Delhi also reported shallow to moderate fog in the early hours of Friday, with the visibility dropping to 200 metres at Safdarjung, and 700 metres at Palam.

RK Jenamani, a scientist at IMD, said the spell of rain over the weekend is due to a western disturbance, which will lead to drizzle towards Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday as well.

“While there may be some drizzle at night, light to moderate spell of rain will be seen on Saturday during the day, with wind speeds touching 40km/hr. The maximum temperature will remain quite low,” he said, adding Sunday and Monday could be cold days.

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.

“A drizzle is expected on Sunday with the impact of this western disturbance expected to be over by Sunday night. The maximum temperature could hover around 17°C by Monday as well,” Jenamani added.

Delhi’s air quality has also remained in the “very poor” category in the last 24 hours, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 365 according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily 4pm bulletin. The AQI reading was 387 (very poor) on Friday.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (Safar), a forecasting body, Delhi’s air quality will improve in the next 24 hours following the rain. “It is likely to rain on January 22 and 23, with gusty winds leading to wet deposition and strong dispersion, which will result in significant improvement of AQI,” said Safar.