Monsoon still far but expect rain today in Noida, Ghaziabad, says IMD

Noida: The weather department has predicted further delay in the arrival of the south-west monsoon in Noida and its adjoining regions, even though most of western Uttar Pradesh is now under monsoon cover

Noida: The weather department has predicted further delay in the arrival of the south-west monsoon in Noida and its adjoining regions, even though most of western Uttar Pradesh is now under monsoon cover. However, light rain is expected over the region on Sunday.

HT Image

The weatherman also said that the delay in monsoon over the region may lead to dry weather and rise in mercury over the next two days, however, the National Capital Region may see patchy rains and heavy winds.

“The south-west monsoon that was held up between east and west UP has slightly advanced and now covers about 85% of western UP, including cities like Meerut and Aligarh. But it’s getting delayed in advancing further to cover areas of Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Agra and the region between Meerut and Delhi. We cannot predict when it may advance and reach this region. The area will only get patchy rain or drizzle on Sunday,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre, India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The weather department had earlier predicted the arrival of monsoon in the NCR by June 15. Normally, the monsoon arrives by the last week of June in NCR.

“The mercury is likely to soar and reach 39°C in the city from Monday onwards. The region is currently seeing strong easterly winds up to 20 kilometre per hour (kmph) but the weather may become dry after next one or two days,” he added.

On Saturday, the IMD recorded a maximum and minimum temperature for Noida at 35°C and 25.9°C against 35.1°C and 25.5°C on Friday. At the Safdarjung monitoring station, considered average for the NCR, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 35.1°C and 25.3°C, respectively.

Meanwhile, strong easterly winds and patchy rains improved the air quality of Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad further.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) of Noida on Saturday, on a scale of 0 to 500, was 55 against 66 a day earlier.

The AQI of Greater Noida was 58 against 62 a day earlier. Ghaziabad recorded an AQI of 85 against 96 a day earlier.

An AQI level from zero to 50 is considered ‘good’, between 50 and 100 is considered ‘satisfactory’, between 101 and 200 is ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 is ‘very poor’ and above 400 is considered ‘severe’.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the air quality will remain in the ‘satisfactory’ levels.

“Rainfall and aerosol washout are expected to improve the air quality. The AQI is likely to stay in the ‘satisfactory’ to ‘moderate’ category for the next three days due to partial washout effect,” said a SAFAR statement on Saturday.