‘Poor' air quality in Delhi, NCR after overnight dust-raising winds
Visibility dipped and the air quality deteriorated to the 'poor' category in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) due to overnight dust-raising winds, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday. The IMD added that a gradual improvement was expected through the day.
The average Air Quality Index (AQI) was in the 'poor' category on Thursday, primarily due to the dust, which spiked the PM 10 concentration. The average AQI was 249 (poor) at 9am compared to 135 (moderate) a day earlier.
IMD senior scientist RK Jenamani said the dust-raising winds were reported around 10pm on Wednesday. He added that the visibility dipped from 4,500 metres to 1,200 metres. 'There were sudden gusty winds of 30-40 km/hr... This spell became almost calm with winds of 3-7 km/hr. The visibility remained poor between 1,200 metres and 1,500 metres at Safdarjung and Palam with dust in the air,' said Jenamani.
IMD scientist Krishna Mishra said the visibility was at 1,500 metres at 9am, improving from around 1,300 metres an hour earlier. 'Westerly winds of around 10 km/hr are blowing, with a gradual improvement expected,' he said.
A partly cloudy sky was expected on Thursday evening after another warm day. The maximum was likely to hover between 40 and 42°C, compared to 40.4°C on Wednesday. Sustained winds of 15-25 km/hr were likely during the day. They were expected to occasionally touch up to 35 km/hr.
Light rain and gusty winds of up to 50 km/hr were expected on Friday. Delhi has recorded 91.2mm monthly rainfall this month—nearly three times the long-period average of 30.7mm for May.
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