Delhi to experience very light rain today; mercury to remain high

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast partly cloudy sky and possibility of ‘very light’ rain/drizzle. However, good winds are likely to prevail across Delhi over the next two to three days

Delhi is likely to have very light rain or drizzle on Saturday, which may bring slight relief from the hot and humid weather being experienced by the city.

While light rains are forecast for the national capital, the temperatures are likely to remain high. (Representational Image)

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast partly cloudy sky and possibility of ‘very light’ rain/drizzle. Good winds are likely to prevail across Delhi over the next two to three days. However, the maximum (day) and minimum (night) temperatures are likely to remain high because of high moisture levels.

On Friday, the day temperature was 38 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal while night temperature settled at 27.8 degrees C, also three notches above the season’s average.

“A drizzle may only increase the humidity levels. Delhi may get some reprieve because of strong surface winds over the next few days and a possibility of rain or thundershowers on September 23-24,” said a senior IMD scientist.

With the good winds, the air quality is also likely to improve slightly over the next few days, however, the improvement may be short-lived, the scientist added.

After a month of of relatively clean air with August seeing four ‘good’ (when air quality index or AQI reads 0-50) air days and remaining 27 days in the ‘satisfactory’ (when AQI is between 50 and 100) zone, the air quality slipped to ‘moderate’ category (when AQI reads 101-200) on September 5 with an AQI reading of 101. It improved to ‘satisfactory’ for a few days and again fell to ‘moderate’ on September 9. Since then, Delhi’s AQI has remained in the ‘moderate’ category.

On Saturday at 6 am, as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) the AQI was 106 in the ‘moderate’category.

Over the past two days, with average wind speed remaining around 10-12 kmph, the AQI readings improved slightly though remaining on the lower end of ‘moderate’ category. As per CPCB data, on Friday the average AQI was 108 while on Thursday it was 120. During September 9-16, the AQI was recorded on the higher end of the ‘moderate’ category.

“Such changes in meteorological conditions, like monsoon almost drawing to a close after which mostly calm winds are observed, are not favourable for dispersion of pollutants. Unlike last month, when the city saw clear blue and rain-washed skies on most days, monsoon withdrawal and slowing down of winds may lead to deterioration in air quality,” the scientist said.