Rain, hail, thunderstorm likely till Friday

Over the next two days, the national capital is expected to experience hailstorm, thunder accompanied by lightning and widespread rainfall, said scientists at the

Over the next two days, the national capital is expected to experience hailstorm, thunder accompanied by lightning and widespread rainfall, said scientists at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday. Meteorologists said a Western Disturbance has affected all of northwest India, which is likely to induce rain, hail and thunder over the next two days. The IMD has also issued an advisory for lightening for regions, including Delhi, which may get affected by the weather phenomenon.

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Delhi woke up to a humid Wednesday that gave way to gusty winds and trace rainfall in the evening.

“In north Delhi, our radar spotted light hailstorm even on Wednesday. On Thursday, the city is expected to see thunder, hail, light rainfall and strong surface with wind speed up to 30-40 kmph. On Friday, parts of the capital may get moderate (15mm to 64mm) rainfall and wind speed may touch 50kmph, which may even result in a squall,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, IMD’s head of regional weather forecasting centre.

Srivastava added that the Western Disturbance is accompanied with a cyclonic circulation forming over west Rajasthan. “The south-westerly winds, associated with the circulation, are carrying moisture from the Arabian Sea and travelling to the national capital region (NCR). This is why the rainfall could be widespread and the impact of thunder and lightning is also expected to be more. This will lower the mercury and improve air quality,” he said.

On Wednesday, the maximum temperature was 29° Celsius, two notches above normal while minimum settled at 14.4° Celsius, a notch above normal.

Meanwhile, strong winds on Wednesday brought the air quality to ‘moderate’ category after remaining in the ‘poor’ zone for two days. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) 4pm bulletin, the air quality index (AQI) was 195. Air quality has been fluctuating between ‘poor’ and ‘moderate’ zones over the past week with an exception of Sunday (March 1), when the AQI was 90—in the ‘satisfactory’ zone.

As per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the Central government’s air quality monitoring and forecasting wing, fairly widespread rainfall is likely to improve over the next two days under the influence of strong surface winds. “SAFAR model suggests an improvement in air quality to satisfactory category during March 6-7,” it said.