Strong winds and dust storm swept parts of Delhi and adjoining cities such as Uttar Pradesh’s Noida and Ghaziabad on Saturday afternoon, a day after similar weather was experienced in the areas.
The IMD had forecast a thunderstorm accompanied with rain for Delhi on Saturday, with the maximum temperature expected to settle around 42 degrees Celsius.
Amid sudden drop in visibility earlier this week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday that dust advected from North Pakistan is moving towards Delhi-NCR via Punjab and Haryana. According to the IMD, the movement occurs under strong lower-level westerly winds prevailing over Punjab and Haryana.
The weather department said at around 3:30 pm on Saturday that a dust storm followed by a thunderstorm with light to moderate rain and lightning is very likely to happen across all of Delhi and NCR in the next two hours.
Gusty winds with speeds of 40 to 60 km per hour were expected.
Delhi-NCR see dust storms for third straight day
Delhi-NCR is experiencing dust storms and strong winds for the third straight day. A day after a dust storm swept through Delhi, parts of the city were hit by rain and strong winds under a cloudy sky on Friday as well.
Several areas on Friday, including Narela, Bawana, Burari, Rohini, Karawal Nagar, Delhi University, Mundka, Punjabi Bagh, Kashmiri Gate, Buddha Jayanti Park, ITO, Jafarpur, Najafgarh, Delhi Cantonment, Safdarjung, and Lodi Road, experienced showers accompanied by lightning, light thunderstorms, and gusty winds reaching speeds of 30 to 60 km/h. Parts of the National Capital Region (NCR), including Noida, were also affected.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that Safdarjung, the city’s main weather station, recorded 1.4 mm of rain between 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm. Other rainfall figures included 7.2 mm at Aya Nagar, 3 mm at Ridge, 2.5 mm at Pusa, and 2 mm at Pitampura.
According to the IMD, a southeastward-moving weather system over Rohtak was expected to continue toward southeast Delhi, likely bringing more rainfall and winds of 40–50 km/h, gusting up to 60 km/h.
Despite the rain, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 42.3 degrees Celsius — nearly 2 degrees Celsius above normal. Aya Nagar saw a high of 44 degrees Celsius, Palam 43.3 degrees Celsius, and Ridge 43.2 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature settled at 26.2 degrees Celsius, slightly below normal.
In response to a sudden spike in air pollution levels, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) reimposed Stage-I measures of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the entire National Capital Region (NCR) on Friday. On May 15, the AQI had deteriorated sharply due to the wind activity.