Rain and hailstorm likely in Delhi, north-west India on January 23-24

Light to moderate rain and a hailstorm with winds gusting up to 50 km per hour is predicted to lash north-west India, including Delhi, next week, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The weather department said an active Western Disturbance is very likely to affect northwest India from January 21 to January 25.

“Under its influence, rainfall/snowfall is likely to commence over the western Himalayan region in the early hours of January 21 and continue till January 25 with peak activity on January 23-24,” it said in a statement.

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Hailstorm and high winds

The Met office said a light to moderate hailstorm is likely at isolated places over Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan on January 23 and 24.

Winds gusting up to 50 km per hour are very likely to prevail over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and west Uttar Pradesh occasionally on January 23-24, it said.

Delhi has not recorded any rainfall this winter season so far. The Met department attributes it to the lack of strong western disturbances in November and December.

Delhi on Tuesday witnessed a second successive cold wave day, logging a minimum temperature of 2.4 degrees Celsius — five degrees below normal for this time of the season. This was a degree above the low of 1.4 degrees Celsius for Monday, which was the coldest day in Delhi for two years.

Delhi temperatures

Tuesday’s minimum was recorded at the Safdarjung station, which provides the representational data for Delhi, but the mercury dropped to even lower levels at other parts of the city, including the stations at Lodhi Road (2 degrees Celsius), Ridge (2.2 degrees Celsius) and Jafarpur (2.3 degrees Celsius).

Despite the cold conditions in the morning, the Capital witnessed a fairly sunny day, leading to its maximum temperature being recorded at 19.7 degrees Celsius, which is around the normal mark and was one degree above Monday’s high.

Also read: Severe cold wave in Delhi, mercury plunges to 1.4 degrees celsius

Met officials have forecast that cold wave conditions are likely to continue in Delhi on Wednesday as well, with the minimum temperature predicted to hover around 3 degrees Celsius.

However, a western disturbance may lead to rising temperatures from Thursday, with IMD predicting drizzle or very light rain on Thursday night.

(With Agency inputs)