Delhi woke up to a chilly Friday morning after rainfall in several parts of the city brought down temperatures and slightly improved air quality.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for the day, warning of thunderstorms accompanied by rain over Delhi and nearby areas due to an ongoing western disturbance. Another spell of very light to light rain is expected later in the afternoon or evening.
The city’s temperature stood at 16.4 degrees Celsius at 7 am, according to the IMD.
This comes after Delhi recorded Thursday as the warmest January day in seven years with a maximum temperature of 27.1 degrees Celsius.
Air quality saw some improvement but continued to remain in the “poor” category, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 297 at 7 am, as per data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Several parts of Delhi continued to report poor air quality, including Anand Vihar (317), Ashok Vihar (335), Wazirpur (351), Punjabi Bagh (326), RK Puram (315), Bawana (342), ITO (266), Chandni Chowk (326), and Dwarka Sector 8 (316).
Rain, snowfall in Shimla, parts of Himachal
Meanwhile, Shimla saw its first snowfall of the season on Friday, ending a three-month dry spell. Snowfall was also reported from higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh, including Manali, a popular tourist destination. Several parts of Jammu also witnessed rainfall, with chilly weather conditions prevailing across the city.
A visual from Hyderpora Srinagar. (Express Photo by Mashkoora Khan)
The IMD said minimum temperatures in low hills, plains and high hill stations went up by 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, while mid-hill stations saw a fall of 2 to 6 degrees Celsius during the last 24 hours.
Story continues below this ad
As reported by PTI, the Shimla administration has issued an advisory, asking people to not drive till the weather clears owning to heavy snowfall and rainfall and has issued ‘orange alert’ for three districts and ‘yellow alert’ for nine.
In Himachal, Districts that received significant rainfall are Bharwain (25 mm), Amb (21 mm), Aghar (17.6 mm), Kandaghat (17 mm), Pachhad (15.3 mm) and Rajgarh (14 mm), among other stations. Snowfall was recorded in several higher reaches, with Kothi receiving 15 cm, Gondla 12 cm, Kukumseri 6.8 cm, Jot 6 cm, Saloni 5 cm, Manali 4.8 cm, Keylong 4 cm, Kufri 4 cm, and Shimla 0.6 cm.
Thunderstorms were reported at isolated places, including Sundernagar, Kangra, Shimla, Murari Devi and Jubbarhatti. Strong gusty winds were observed, with Narkanda recording wind speeds of up to 87 kmph, followed by Kufri (67 kmph), Seobagh (65 kmph) and Mashobra (59 kmph).
Kashmir turns snow-white, air traffic affected
The Banihal town of Kashmir’s Ramban district witnessed the first heavy snowfall of the season as fresh snow blanketed the entire region. The overnight snowfall led to sharp drop in temperature and reduced visibility. The plains and upper reaches of Doda’s Bhalesa and its adjoin ing areas also got their first glimpse of snowfall after a prolonged dry spell of nearly three months.
Story continues below this ad
Meanwhile, Baramulla, Budgam, and the hill resort town of Batote in Ramban also got a significant amount of snowfall.
Although the people welcomed the much-awaited snow and expressed a sense of relief and happiness, the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) was shut due to the rain and snowfall. Vehicular movement also stopped at Jakhani Chowk in Udhampur.
Air traffic was suspended on Friday after flights were cancelled at the Srinagar airport due to heavy snowfall in the valley,rendering the runway unsafe for aircraft operation “In view of continuous snowfall, accumulation of snow on operational areas, and the prevailing forecast of adverse weather en route, all flight operations at Srinagar airport stand cancelled for the day in the interest of passenger safety,” officials at the airport said.
A visual from Hyderpora Srinagar. (Express Photo by Mashkoora Khan)
