New Delhi, Dec 26 (PTI) The national capital is likely to witness cloudy skies and rain on Friday, the weather department said here.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said a western disturbance is likely to interact with lower-level easterly winds over the central parts of the country, resulting in significant moisture feeding from both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, particularly on December 27 and 28.
Under the influence of these systems, scattered to fairly widespread rainfall and snowfall are expected over the western Himalayan region on December 27 and 28. The impact of this weather system is also likely to be felt in the national capital.
The weather department has forecast generally cloudy skies for Friday, with light to moderate rain and thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds at speeds of 30-40 kmph.
The predominant surface wind is expected to be from the northeast at a speed of less than 4 kmph during the morning hours, with smog or moderate fog likely in the morning, it said.
The wind speed is expected to increase to less than 12 kmph from variable directions in the afternoon before decreasing again to less than 4 kmph from the northeast during the evening and night. Smog or shallow fog is likely in the evening and night, it added.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are predicted to be around 23 and 8 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s minimum temperature on Thursday settled at 8.2 degrees Celsius, a notch above the normal, while the maximum reached 24.1 degrees Celsius, 1.7 degrees above the average, the weather department said.
This marked a departure of three degrees from the previous day, as Wednesday’s maximum was recorded at 22.4 degrees Celsius, it said.
The humidity level fluctuated between 72 and 100 per cent during the day.
Delhi’s 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 345 at 4 pm on Thursday, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category. The previous day, it had a reading of 336.
Out of 37 monitoring stations, only Nehru Nagar recorded air quality in the ‘severe’ category with a reading above 400, while 33 stations reported ‘very poor’ air quality, and the remaining stations were in the ‘poor’ category, according to the Sameer app.
The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi has predicted that air quality is likely to remain in the ‘poor’ category on Friday but improve to the ‘moderate’ category on Saturday.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’. PTI NSM IJT
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