The national capital is in for a wet and windy start to the week, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a “yellow alert” for Monday and Tuesday. A fresh western disturbance is likely to bring scattered showers and gusty winds of up to 50 km/hr across northwest India, including Delhi NCR.
Though the disturbance remains feeble, an IMD official said it began affecting the western Himalayan region from Sunday. “There are chances of light rain over the plains, including Delhi, on Monday and Tuesday,” the official added.
Thundery developments are forecast for Wednesday, following which temperatures will gradually rise again.
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On Sunday, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 37.9 degrees Celsius (°C), a notch below normal. The maximum is expected to hover between 37-39°C on Monday, before dipping to 35-37°C on Tuesday and 34-36°C on Wednesday. The minimum temperature on Sunday was 26.2°C, a degree above normal, and is likely to stay between 25-27°C until Thursday.
“Temperatures will start rising again from Thursday and may inch close to 40°C by the weekend,” the IMD official said.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet Weather, said the first half of May is unlikely to see any heatwave. “This western disturbance will provide a cooling effect and prevent mercury from rising rapidly. Temperatures may remain below 40°C until around May 15,” he said.
May has been unusually cool so far, with back-to-back western disturbances and even brief hailstorms in parts of the city on May 5. The season’s highest maximum so far stands at 38.6°C, recorded on May 2.
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Typically, May in Delhi sees maximum temperature crossing 40°C, sometimes touching 45°C. Last May, the highest was 42.3°C (May 16). In comparison, May 2024 recorded 46.8°C (May 30), May 2023 saw 43.7°C (May 23), and May 2022 touched 45.6°C (May 16).
Delhi’s air quality remained “moderate” on Sunday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 127, slightly up from Saturday’s 116, as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) 24-hour daily bulletin.
According to the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS), the AQI is likely to stay “moderate” until May 12, but may improve to “satisfactory” by May 13.
According to the CPCB’s classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “satisfactory”, 101-200 “moderate”, 201-300 “poor”, 301-400 “very poor” and 401-500 “severe”.
