Rain, winds bring respite from heat in Delhi

Friday started on a hot note with temperatures touching a record 41 degrees Celsius but later saw relief in the form of significant weather changes, with light to very light rain, dust storm and gusty winds sweeping parts of the Capital at night.

Weather officials said that the change in weather conditions was due to a fresh cloud cluster entering Delhi at around 9pm on Friday, causing very light to light rainfall and gusty winds of speed 30-40 kmph. “It is likely to move across Delhi with similar intensity,” an India Meteorological Department official said.

IMD has forecast temperatures to drop over the weekend and issued a yellow alert for Saturday, warning people of light rain or drizzle, accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning or dust storm. The Met department added that strong surface winds of speed 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph is also expected.

“A yellow alert has been issued for Saturday as well. Sustained surface wind of speed 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph might continue, along with a possible thunderstorm or even dust storm,” said an IMD official.

Earlier in the day, the city sizzled at a record maximum temperature of 41°C — logged for the second time this season after April 8 — at base weather station Safdarjung. It was 4.2°C above the normal and 0.4°C more Thursday.

The minimum remained almost the same as Thursday at 25.6°C, four degrees above the normal.

On Friday, Pusa and Narela stations received 0.5mm of rain between 5.30pm and 8.30pm.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet, said, “The forecast for rain and thunderstorm is due to a combined effect of the western disturbance impacting the region and an induced cyclonic circulation over Punjab and Harayana. Due to this combination, the humidity increases, which along with the increased heating, causes thundercloud to form. The impact of the WD is expected to be over by April 20-21.”

IMD has forecast the maximum to go down to 37-39°C by Saturday and 36-38°C by Sunday. The minimum is expected to be around 24-26°C by Sunday.

The air quality, meanwhile, remained in the “poor” category. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 219 (poor) at 4pm on Friday, as compared to 204 (poor) on Thursday.

According to the forecasts by Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi, however, AQI is expected to improve to “moderate” again by Saturday, aided by strong surface winds and rain.

“The air quality is likely to be in the moderate category from Saturday to Monday. The outlook for the subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in the moderate to poor category,” the AQEWS bulletin said on Friday evening.