Scattered light rain, gusty winds tonight: IMD sounds yellow alert for Delhi
IMD has forecast that the impact of a prevailing western disturbance would continue till Saturday, with very light rain likely during the day.
NEW DELHI: India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a yellow alert for Friday night, forecasting scattered rain expected in isolated parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region. It said winds are also expected to increase towards the night — to 30-40 km/hour, possibly gusting up to 50 km/hr.
Isolated light rain was recorded in southwest Delhi during the day, with Palam recording 5.3mm of rainfall between 8:30am and 5:30pm. In the past 24 hours till Friday’s 8:30 am, isolated light rain was recorded in parts of east and central Delhi with Mayur Vihar and Lodhi road recording 0.5mm and ‘trace’ rainfall respectively.
IMD has forecast that the impact of a prevailing western disturbance would continue till Saturday, with very light rain likely during the day.
“There is a chance of scattered light rain in Delhi NCR late on Friday night and during the day on Saturday. From Sunday, we do not expect rain, but cloudiness will still persist,” said an IMD official, adding that no colour-coded alert was in place from Saturday onwards.
Delhi has recorded 77.8mm of monthly rainfall in May, essentially on account of the 77mm rain on May 2. This was the second-highest single day rainfall in May ever, IMD had said.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet said the impact of the western disturbance was weakening, with more activity likely north of Punjab.
“In Delhi NCR, we may see some isolated spell of rain. Gusty winds may occur again in isolated places. However, the impact of the western disturbance is all but over and while chances of rain exist till Saturday, beyond it, we will likely to see cloudiness till Tuesday,” he said, adding mercury is not expected to rise above 40°C during this period.
The maximum on Friday was 36.7°C, three degrees below normal. It was 37.3°C a day earlier. The minimum stood at 25.7°C, which was a degree above normal. It was 26.8°C a day earlier. Forecasts show the maximum will hover between 36-39°C over the weekend, while the minimum will be between 26-28°C.
Delhi’s air quality improved in the past 24 hours. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 151 (moderate) at 4 pm on Friday, as compared to 169 (moderate) at the same time on Thursday.
