City experiences gusty winds and thundershowers

The city received light rain accompanied with strong winds and lightning on Friday

The city received light rain accompanied with strong winds and lightning on Friday. While light rain prevailed in the morning hours until 10 am, and later during the day in patches, the evening saw gusty winds and lightning with a prolonged spell of rain. The maximum temperature also came down by several degrees due to the rain.

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Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said that light rain had taken place across Delhi-NCR on account of a western disturbance. “By Saturday morning, the impact of the western disturbance should cease. No further rain is predicted for the region in the coming days,” said Srivastava. While the IMD has said that two fresh western disturbances were likely to affect the western Himalayan region and the adjoining plains of Northwest India, the plains will not be affected.

While the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) automatic weather station (AWS) for Gurugram did not record the minimum temperature on Friday, the IMD’s AWS at the Palam observatory in Delhi, recorded the day’s minimum temperature at 19.5 degrees Celsius. The city’s maximum temperature stood at 30.4 degrees Celsius, down from 33.4 degrees Celsius the previous day. As per the IMD’s weekly forecast, the maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 31 and 17 degrees Celsius respectively on Satuday.

The city’s air quality continued in the ‘poor’ zone on Friday with the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) air quality index (AQI) bulletin recording a value of 263. On Thursday, the AQI was recorded at 268.

The level of ultra-fine particulate matter having a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM 2.5), the city’s primary pollutant, was 152.75 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) on Friday, as per the CPCB’s air quality monitor at Vikas Sadan in Sector 11. At the official monitor in Sector 51, the PM 2.5 concentration stood at 314.34 µg/m3 on Friday. The PM 2.5 concentration at Teri Gram monitor stood at 232.56 µg/m3.

An improvement in the AQI is likely on Saturday account of Friday’s rain. According to the early air quality warning system for Delhi-NCR, the air quality is likely to remain in the moderate category on Saturday. Subsequently, air quality is expected to be in the ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’ category over the next five days.