The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday issued an orange alert in Delhi, signalling a likely change in weather conditions, even as the Capital woke up to a slightly warmer morning with minimum temperatures above normal across most weather stations.
The minimum temperature at Safdarjung – Delhi’s base weather station – was 23.3 degrees Celsius, 3.7 degrees above normal, according to IMD data recorded at 8.30am on Thursday. The minimum temperature at Ayanagar was 23.4 degrees Celsius, 3.2 degrees above normal, while Lodhi Road recorded 22 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal. Palam recorded the lowest minimum temperature among all the weather stations at 21.5 degrees Celsius, 1.7 degrees above normal. The Ridge recorded a minimum temperature of 22.3 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees above normal.
An orange alert is issued to “be prepared” for heavy to very heavy rainfall (typically 115.6 mm to 204.4 mm in 24 hours), a yellow alert means “be aware” (typically 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm in 24 hours).
The maximum temperature on Wednesday was 33.3 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung, 33 degrees Celsius at Lodhi Road and 33.4 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar. Palam recorded 32 degrees Celsius, while the Ridge logged 31.6 degrees Celsius. No rainfall was recorded at any of the five weather stations in the 24 hours till 8.30am on Thursday.
Expert Navdeep Dahiya said the weather conditions may change in Delhi-NCR during the day as the western disturbance clouds are expected to start moving in.
