Parts of Delhi and adjoining cities in the National Capital Region (NCR) witnessed surprise rain early on Friday amid cold wave conditions. The unexpected downpour comes as the weather department did not predict rainfall earlier in the capital and NCR cities, which are reeling under a spell of dense fog and biting cold.
Amid rain in Delhi-NCR, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) today predicted light to moderate rainfall across the capital and parts of Haryana and Rajasthan in the next two hours. Temperatures are expected to dip further.
The rain is expected to improve the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi and other cities in NCR, which has been oscillating between poor and very poor.
In its 6:30 am update, the Regional Meteorological Centre, Delhi, said that light rainfall is expected to occur at a few places in Delhi, including, Preet Vihar, ITO, India Gate, Akshardham, Safdarjung, Lodhi Road, RK Puram and Defence Colony.
Light intermittent rainfall/drizzle is likely to occur at isolated places in the capital, including Mundka, Paschim Vihar, Rajouri Garden, Rajiv Chowk, Dwarka, Delhi Cantt and IGI Airport.
Rain is also predicted in Indirapuram, Chhapraula, Noida, Dadri, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad, Manesar, Ballabhgarh, Sohna, Palwal and Tizara.
Other places in NCR such as Bahadurgarh, Karnal, Panipat, Gohana, Rohtak, Rewari, Nandgaon, Khairthal and Kotputli may see rain in the next two hours.
On Thursday, the national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 5.8 degrees Celsius, the lowest this season. People experienced a sharp chill throughout the day with maximum temperatures remaining lower than normal across all monitoring stations.
Palam emerged as the coldest station with a minimum of 4.8 degrees Celsius, while Ridge and Ayanagar all recorded 5.8 degrees Celsius, according to the weather office.
The Safdarjung observatory, which serves as Delhi's base weather station, recorded a low of 5.8 degrees, 1.1 notches below normal.
The maximum temperature in Delhi settled at 17.5 degrees Celsius, around 1.5 degrees Celsius below the seasonal average. Among the monitoring stations, Palam recorded the lowest maximum temperature at 14.5 degrees Celsius, nearly 4.2 degrees Celsius below normal, IMD said.
The severe chill is likely to persist through this week, even though the IMD has predicted a marginal rise in the maximum temperature from Friday. Till January 14, Delhi is likely to see clear skies with shallow to moderate fog in the morning hours.
The IMD predicted cold wave conditions to persist through this week. Till January 14, Delhi is likely to see clear skies with shallow to moderate fog in the morning hours.
In view of the biting cold, all schools in the national capital and Haryana have been closed until January 15. Schools in Noida and Ghaziabad are shut till January 10.
Source: ANI
