Even as showers and strong winds significantly improved the air quality in Delhi-NCR on Friday, the Capital witnessed the year’s first rain, leading to a drop of nearly 11 degrees Celsius in the day temperature. At 19.8 mm, the city also saw the wettest January day in the last two years. The city had received 20.44 mm of rainfall on January 30, 2023.
Delhi’s maximum temperature settled at 16 degrees Celsius, the lowest for this month and also the lowest day temperature for the month since January 10, 2024, when the day’s high had settled at 15.2 degrees Celsius.
Noida, meanwhile, reported a day temperature of 14.5 degrees Celsius, and a minimum temperature at 14 degrees Celsius on Friday. Gurgaon recorded a maximum of 16.8 degrees Celsius. The minimum settled at 14.1 degrees Celsius.
Delhi recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 282 in the ‘Poor’ category, improving from Thursday’s 322 (Very Poor). The city breathed easy after recording two ‘Severe’ AQI days. The last time the city recorded AQI in the ‘Poor’ category was on January 12.
In Noida, the AQI plunged to 270 (Poor) on Friday from 335 (Very Poor) the day before. Gurgaon, too, saw a notable improvement as the AQI settled at 227 (Poor), compared to 366 (Very Poor) a day before.
The improvement was followed by widespread rainfall and gusty winds across NCR.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), very light to light rain, with winds reaching 30–40 kmph, was reported at many places of the Capital on Friday. Palam Airport recorded gusts up to 37 kmph, Jafarpur up to 33 kmph, while Pragati Maidan and Salwan Public School station recorded gusts up to 31 kmph.
By evening, Safdarjung had received 19.8 mm of rain. As per the IMD data, Palam received 20.1 mm of rain, Lodhi Road 13.4 mm, Ridge 17.4 mm, Aya Nagar 11.5 mm, Pitampura 11 mm, Mayur Vihar 8.5 mm and Janakpuri received 14.5 mm.
Senior IMD officials said the change was caused by an active western disturbance, a weather system that brings moisture-laden winds from the Mediterranean region to Northwest India, often leading to rain, cloud cover and strong winds in winter.
Interestingly, the system also led to a sharp rise in the minimum temperatures. The Capital recorded a rise of about five degrees Celsius in the minimum temperature compared to Thursday, mainly due to cloud cover, with the day’s low settling at 13 degrees Celsius. Weather stations such as CRPF Campus, Jafarpur, Lodhi Road and Hindon recorded jumps of over 8 degrees Celsius by 5.30 am, as per IMD officials.
In terms of air quality, Pusa recorded the cleanest air with AQI of 179 (Moderate), while Wazirpur remained the most polluted at 328 in the ‘Very Poor’ category. Stations including IGI Airport, Lodhi Road, Mandir Marg and NSIT Dwarka also reported Moderate air quality.
According to the IMD forecast, Delhi is likely to witness a generally cloudy sky on Saturday, with shallow to moderate fog during morning and strong surface winds reaching speeds of 10–20 kmph. As per Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, air quality is expected to remain in the ‘Moderate’ category on Saturday, turn ‘Poor’ on Sunday, and fluctuate between ‘Poor’ and ‘Very Poor’ in the following days.
Showers and gusty winds bring Delhi’s first rain of the year, sharply improving air quality and lowering temperatures. (Express File Photo) 
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