Delhi Braces for Another Chilly Day as Rains, Thunder Lash NCR for Second Straight Morning

Delhi received light showers in the wee hours on Sunday as the temperature is expected to dip further in the national capital, which is battling bone-chilling cold. The rainfall will be accompanied by hail precipitation, said the India Meteorological Department on Sunday morning.

“Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain would occur over Kurukshetra, Bhiwani, Meham, Rohtak, Gohana, Gannaur, Bhiwadi, Sohna, Nuh (Haryana), Nagaur, Laxmangarh, Rajgarh, Alwar, Dausa, Mehndipur (Rajasthan), Khataoli, Aligarh, Atrauli, Siyana,” the IMD said.

Besides, the afore-mentioned cities, the IMD also mentioned that during the next two hours, rainfall is also expected to lash Loni-dehat, Hindon-AF station, Jahangirabad, Khurja, Etah, Kashganj, Amroha, Moradabad, Bhajoi, Chandausi, Iglas, Deeg, Agra, Mathura, Hathras, Narora (UP).

Parts of the national capital received light rain on Saturday morning, while the minimum temperature rose to 7 degrees Celsius due to a cloud cover over the city, the IMD said.

At 441, the air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded in ‘severe’ category for the second day in a row. The monitoring stations in many parts of the city including ITO, Mandir Marg, Sirifort, RK Puram and Punjabi Bagh showed the AQI in ‘severe’ category.

“Moderate” fog lowered visibility to 201 metres at Safdarjung. A Met official said 1.2 mm rain was recorded at Safdarjung and Lodhi Road after 8.30 am. The maximum temperature was recorded at 19.2 degrees Celsius, he said.

On Friday, the mercury plummeted to 1.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest in 15 years for January, and “very dense” fog lowered visibility to “zero” metres. On January 8, 2006, the city had recorded a minimum of 0.2 degree Celsius. The all-time record is minus 0.6 degree Celsius registered in January 1935.

The lowest minimum temperature recorded in January last year was 2.4 degrees Celsius, the IMD said. Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre, said the minimum temperature has started rising under the influence of the “intense” western disturbance, which will affect northwest India till January 6.

Light rain is expected in Delhi over the next two to three days, he added.

Meanwhile, thousands of farmers continued to stay put at their protest venues near Delhi’s border, braving a severe chill as the mercury dipped to 1.1 degrees Celsius on the New Year’s Day, the lowest in 15 years, as talks with the government made little headway.

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