Farmers walk through rain during a protest against the new farm laws, at Ghazipur Border in New Delhi. (PTI Photo: Kamal Singh) The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a thunderstorm with light rain and hail, which is expected to bring temperatures down by a few degrees, in Delhi on Friday.
IMD officials said rain is expected across the plains of northwest India on Friday under the influence of a Western Disturbance, which started affecting Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.
Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said temperatures are expected to fall by around two degrees. “We will see rainfall with thunderstorm and hail in some places in Delhi-NCR on Friday, which is expected to reduce temperatures over the next one or two days,” he said.
“Strong, gusty winds are also forecast which is expected to improve air quality levels. Rain will help settle down pollutants and strong winds will help in better dispersion,” Srivastava added.
IMD data shows that in March 2020, Delhi received 109.6mm of rain whereas in the same period in 2019, the figure was 12.2mm.
The normal amount of rain expected in March, as per IMD data of past 30 years, is 15.9 mm. So far this month, Delhi has recorded 1 mm of rain based on light showers Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s average air quality index on Thursday was 242 in the ‘poor’ category, as per CPCB.