New Delhi: Patchy light rain accompanied by strong winds swept parts of the capital on Sunday as a western disturbance began affecting the region, raising the minimum temperature and helping improve air quality. Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 265 (poor) at 4pm on Sunday, an improvement from 315 (very poor) at the same time on Saturday.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the city is likely to see largely mild weather through the week, with another western disturbance expected to impact northwest India between Feb 5 and 7. This is likely to prevent any sharp dip in minimum temperatures, though similar very light, scattered rain is possible over the coming weekend. The minimum temperature rose to 12.1°C on Sunday — 4 degrees above normal. IMD forecasts show the minimum dipping to 7–9°C by Friday before rising by 1–2°C over the weekend as the next system approaches. The maximum temperature settled at 24.6°C, about 2 degrees above normal. It is expected to fall to around 18°C by Friday and then hover between 19°C and 21°C through the weekend. Till 8.30am Sunday, Safdarjung and Palam recorded “trace” rainfall, while Lodhi Road logged 0.2mm and Ridge 0.6mm. No rain was recorded after 8.30am. Mahesh Palawat, vice-president at Skymet, said Delhi-NCR saw only patchy showers as the current western disturbance was weaker than the previous two. “There was just one light spell early in the morning. Clouds moved south-east towards Madhya Pradesh soon after. No further rain is expected in the next few days,” he said. Delhi last recorded rain on Jan 27, when Safdarjung logged 4.2mm. Earlier, the city received 19.8mm between Jan 23 and 24. The Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) said the AQI is likely to stay in the “poor” category till at least Feb 10.
