NEW DELHI: Delhiites woke up to overcast skies and damp weather on Tuesday, with the Met department predicting light rainfall over the week. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), western disturbances developing in the city’s neighbourhood have started affecting Delhi-NCR. Met officials predicted hailstorm, accompanied by rain, to lash the city sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday evening. The minimum temperature is likely to fall by 3 to 4 degrees as the shift in weather pattern takes effect, and the maximum temperature would also drop by four to five notches.
“Strong surface winds, gusting at 20-25 kmph, will sweep the city over the next few days. The minimum temperature would also drop by 3-4 degrees between January 9 and 11. The maximum temperature would also fall by 4-5 degrees between January 8 and 10,” Kuldeep Srivastava, a scientist with the IMD, said.
The city recorded a minimum temperature of 11.6°C, while the maximum settled at 19°C. The weather forecasters also predicted dense fog to shroud the national capital between January 10 and 11.
The air quality, too, dropped to ‘very poor’ from ‘poor’ on Tuesday, with the overall air quality index (AQI) settling at 218, according to the Centre’s air quality monitoring system SAFAR.“The overall AQI in Delhi was in ‘poor’ category on December 7. The western disturbance has started to have a positive impact on AQI. Scattered to fairly widespread rainfall is also expected tomorrow (Wednesday),” SAFAR said.