Met predicts hailstorm in Delhi on Monday

“The temperature will be around 7-8°C in the coming days because of the passing western disturbance. There is a forecast of some areas in NCR receiving hailstorm on Sunday, but this is expected to hit Delhi by Monday,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre.

A day after Delhi recorded its coldest day in 15 years, the Capital on Saturday woke up to light rains in several parts, with the minimum temperature rising to seven degrees Celsius at the Safdarjung observatory, which is considered the representative recording for the city.

Vehicles pass on a foggy morning, at Lodhi Road in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/ HT Photo)

Meanwhile, the maximum temperature on Saturday was 19.5°C.

On Friday, the minimum temperature at the observatory had dipped to 1.1°C under the influence of icy north-westerly winds from snow-clad mountains in Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Before this, the minimum temperature fell to 0.2°C on January 8, 2006. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Delhi was on January 16, 1935, when it touched -0.6°C.

IMD recordings show that some parts of the city recorded trace to light rain in the early hours of Saturday. The Palam observatory recorded 0.4mm rainfall, while the one at Lodhi Road saw 1.2 mm rainfall. Trace rainfall was recorded at the Safdarjung, Aya Nagar and Ridge observatories. IMD scientists said that the rainfall and increased temperature were impacts of a western disturbance over Delhi and the National Capital Region.

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said there is the possibility of more intense rain in Delhi and the National Capital Region over the next three days. There is also a forecast of hailstorm in Delhi on Monday.

“The temperature will be around 7-8°C in the coming days because of the passing western disturbance. There is a forecast of some areas in NCR receiving hailstorm on Sunday, but this is expected to hit Delhi by Monday,” said Srivastava.

Additionally, the high moisture level in the air after trace rainfall, led to ‘severe’ air pollution in Delhi for the second consecutive day on Saturday.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recordings show that the overall air quality index of Delhi was 443, in the ‘severe’ range. On Friday the AQI stood at 441, also in the ‘severe’ zone.

Scientists said the high pollution levels were despite high average wind speeds on Saturday. According to IMD, the average wind speed on Saturday was 15kmph, which is expected to go up to 25 kmph by Monday.

The Union ministry of earth science’s air quality monitoring centre, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), said ventilation conditions in Delhi will improve on Sunday and are likely to significantly cut pollution, in spite of the temperature and relatively low boundary layer.

“With each passing day from January 3 the AQI is forecasted to improve roughly by one category. The AQI will improve to the middle-end of the very poor category by January 3, poor category by January 4 and is likely to further improve to the border beginning end of poor or even to the moderate category by January 5,” Safar forecast said.