Delhi weather today: Rohini, Dwarka & other areas brace for thunderstorm, gusty winds; AQI stays ‘very poor’

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an “Orange Nowcast Warning” for rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds in several areas of Delhi on Friday morning. Shallow fog has also been predicted during the morning hours.

The weather agency, in a tweet, said several areas such as Dwarka, Rajouri Garden, Nazafgarh and Rohini will be affected.

“Light to moderate rainfall accompanied with 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 moderate 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 (4𝟎-6𝟎 𝐊𝐦p𝐡 𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬) 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢,” the IMD said.

In the National Capital Region, the weather agency has predicted rain accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds in Bahadurgarh. The same forecast warning has been issued for Haryana's Rohtak, Jhajjar, Farukhnagar, Mahendargarh, and Narnaul, and Rajasthan's Kotputli.

At 4:30 AM, the Met Department said that gusty winds of 37 kilometres per hour were reported at Delhi's IGI Airport, Palam.

In a separate forecast, the weather agency stated that the likely early Friday morning rain spell over Delhi is due to an ongoing western disturbance. Another spell of very light to light rain is forecast for the afternoon or evening on Friday. A yellow alert has been issued for thunderstorms and rain.

The overall 24-hour average AQI stood at 313, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). At 7 AM, the AQI was recorded to be 312.

According to the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is classified as 'good,' 51-100 'satisfactory,' 101-200 'moderate,' 201-300 'poor,' 301-400 'very poor' and 401–500 'severe.'

Station-wise AQI data showed that Wazirpur was the worst with the AQI at 356. As per the Sameer app, 29 stations were in the 'very poor' category and nine in the 'poor' category across the city.

On Thursday, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) revoked Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR, citing improvement in overall air quality. However, measures under Stages I and II will remain in force.

Air quality forecasts from the Air Quality and Weather Forecasting System (AQWS) indicate that air quality is likely to remain 'moderate' on January 23 and 24, before slipping to the 'poor' category on January 25.

(With PTI inputs)