Heavy rain lashed parts of Delhi and adjoining cities in the early hours of Monday, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an orange alert for all districts of the national capital.
Delhi’s adjoining cities of Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad and Noida were placed under a yellow alert, while Haryana’s Gurugram was also in an orange alert for the early hours of Monday, September 6.
The alert was in Delhi was in effect till 3:42 am, while Gurugram’s warning was in place till 2:8 am, according to the nowcast viewed on IMD website at around 1:20 am on Monday.
The yellow alerts in Ghaziabad and Noida were in place till 1:55 am.
Delhi on Sunday recorded maximum temperature of 34.1 degrees Celsius, 0.2 notch below the seasonal average, according to the IMD.
The minimum temperature settled at 24.2 degrees celsius, 1.9 notch above the season’s average, the IMD said.
Western disturbance to hit Delhi-NCR
The IMD has predicted that Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) will be impacted by the strong western disturbance prevailing across northwest India from Monday onwards.
Subsequently, the cold northwesterly winds will lead to a drop in minimum temperature from Wednesday onwards, the IMD said.
Officials, cited in an earlier HT report, said scattered showers on Sunday and more widespread rain early next week are expected to help clear pollutants from the Capital’s air, which slipped back to the ‘moderate’ category on Saturday after a brief spell of cleaner air.
Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) on Saturday stood at 138 at 4 pm, as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily bulletin. The day before, the city had recorded an AQI of 88, its lowest post-Dussehra level in three years, following rain and strong winds that helped disperse pollutants. Friday’s ‘satisfactory’ air quality had also ended a 21-day spell of ‘moderate’ conditions.