Yellow alert in Delhi today as IMD predicts rainfall, gusty winds; AQI improves

LIght rain down is expected o'er new delhi due to a western sandwich upset, even as the winter chill has eased over the past few days, with Thursday recording the warmest January day in seven years with a maximum temperature of 27.1 degrees Celsius. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Friday and light to moderate rainfall over the national capital over the next few days, HT reported earlier.The western disturbance is likely to cause multiple spells of light to moderate spells of continuous rainfall throughout Friday, officials to HT.Rain in DelhiIssuing a yellow alert for Friday, the IMD said that the skies over Delhi-NCR will remain generally cloudy. “Very light to light rain accompanied with thunderstorm/lightning and gusty winds (speed 30–40 kmph). Shallow to moderate fog during morning hours,” it said in its bulletin.“One or two spells of light rain, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of speed 30-40 kmph are likely to occur during the early to forenoon hours on Friday. Another spell of very light to light rain is likely towards the afternoon and evening,” an IMD official said. IMD has predicted the influence of another consecutive western disturbance over northwest India from January 26 to 28, which, it said, is likely to lead to an increase in the minimum temperature.Improvement in air qualityDelhi's air quality also showed marginal improvement on Thursday with an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 313 (very poor) recorded at 8am on Thursday, compared to 330 (very poor) recorded at 4pm on Wednesday. Wind speeds are expected to increase on Friday which are expected to disperse the pollutants and improve the air quality in the national capital.The uptick in Delhi's air quality prompted the sub-committee on the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to revoke Stage III curbs across Delhi-NCR with immediate effect on Thursday (January 22).The panel observed that the AQI of Delhi has been improving owing to favourable meteorological conditions and recorded as 322 on Thursday, PTI reported. Forecast by IMD/ IITM indicates that AQI is likely to remain in the "moderate" to "poor" category in coming days. Therefore, keeping in view the disruptive nature of restrictions under Stage-III of extant GRAP impacting a large number of stakeholders and public, the CAQM Sub-Committee on GRAP today unanimously decided to revoke all actions under Stage-III of the extant schedule of GRAP in the entire NCR, with immediate effect.Western disturbances over north IndiaThe IMD has predicted severe weather with heavy rain, hailstorm and thunderstorms (with gusty winds) over parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. Hailstorm and thunderstorms are predicted in parts of Haryana, West Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.