Temperature to dip next week, western disturbance may lead to early winter onset: IMD

Temperatures in south Haryana, including Gurugram, are likely to drop over the next week, with a possibility of light rain around Diwali, officials from India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday

Temperatures in south Haryana, including Gurugram, are likely to drop over the next week, with a possibility of light rain around Diwali, officials from India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.

According to the weekly forecast of the Meteorological Centre, Chandigarh, between October 29 and November 4 (Diwali), temperatures in the district will remain below normal. (Representational image/HT Archive)

According to the weekly forecast of the Meteorological Centre Chandigarh, between October 29 and November 4 (Diwali), temperatures in the district will remain below normal.

“Over the next week till Diwali, temperatures in the south Haryana region, including Gurugram, will remain below normal with clear sky during the day. Some western disturbance activity is likely to start around November 1, and light rain is expected, which will lead to a further drop in temperature. If drop in temperatures continue, then we might see winter setting in early this year, instead of by third week of November,” Manmohan Singh, the director of MeT Centre in Chandigarh, said.

A western disturbance is a wind originating over the Mediterranean region, which carries moisture in the form of rainfall or snowfall, while travelling up to northern regions.

The official said that the exact intensity of rain can only be ascertained by the next weekend.

With rain, the air quality is also likely to improve in the city around Diwali. Over the past two days, the air quality in the city was in the ‘moderate’ category of the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily air quality bulletin. On Wednesday, Gurugram reported an air quality index of 168 with particulate matter, both PM10 and PM2.5, and carbon monoxide as the prominent pollutants.

Meanwhile, the maximum temperature was five degrees below normal in Gurugram for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, recording a maximum temperature of 26.4 degrees Celsius (°C), and a minimum temperature of 16.5°C, two degrees above normal.

As per IMD data, the normal temperature in the last week of October and the first week of November is 31.7°C for Gurugram.

According to the weather bulletin issued by Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi on Wednesday, the air quality over the national capital territory is likely to deteriorate gradually but remain in the ‘poor’ category on Thursday and Friday. Over the next five days, the air quality is likely to remain in the ‘poor’ to the lower end of the ‘very poor’ category, with PM2.5 as the predominant pollutant.