Delhi experienced light rain and thunderstorms on Monday evening. This weather brought relief to the city's residents. They have been dealing with poor air quality for several days. However, this change in weather had a big impact on flight operations at Delhi airport.
Delhi Airport Faces Flight Disruptions Due to Bad Weather
At Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, many flights faced delays and diversions. Between 6 and 8 pm, 16 flights heading to Delhi had to go to other cities. These included ten flights to Jaipur, three to Lucknow, two to Amritsar, and one to Ahmedabad. This was due to the bad weather in Delhi.
Hindustan Times reported that airlines like IndiGo and SpiceJet, informed their passengers about the delays. They used social media for updates. IndiGo Airlines released a "travel advisory" about the impact of heavy rain on Delhi airport operations. They advised passengers to check flight statuses online.
SpiceJet also updated passengers about delays at Delhi airport. They mentioned air traffic control congestion due to the weather. They asked passengers to keep checking their flight status.
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The India Meteorological Department has a weather forecast for Delhi. They predict a partly cloudy sky on Tuesday. There might be shallow to moderate fog in the morning. The temperatures in Delhi are expected to be around 25 degrees Celsius and 12 degrees Celsius.
This sudden change in weather at Delhi airport has caused some trouble, but it has also brought much-needed relief from the poor air quality in the city.
Delhi Weather Brings Temporary Pollution Relief, Affects Flights
Delhi experienced light rain and strong winds on Monday. This weather brought a small drop in pollution levels in some areas. The Safdarjung weather station reported 7.2 mm of rainfall. The Palam observatory recorded 2.3 mm, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Due to this weather, 16 flights had to change their route. Ten flights went to Jaipur, three to Lucknow, one to Ahmedabad, and two to Amritsar, affecting Delhi airport.
According to the Indian Express, Monday evening saw a drop in temperature. It went down to around 16.8 degrees Celsius. This was lower than the day's highest temperature of 24.2 degrees Celsius.
Delhi's air quality has been poor for the past week. This is due to calm conditions preventing the spread of pollutants. But on Monday, the wind speed increased. It reached around 20 kmph at Palam and 12 kmph at Safdarjung. This helped reduce some of the particulate matter in the air.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) shared that at Mandir Marg, the level of PM10 and PM2.5 fell significantly by Monday night. Also, the Air Quality Index (AQI) stayed high. It was at 391 at 9 pm, in the 'very poor' category. Some areas like RK Puram, Punjabi Bagh, and ITO had 'severe' AQI.
Weather Change in Delhi
The weather change in Delhi is due to a western disturbance. It was over central Pakistan on Monday. This effect was expected to last only till Monday night, according to IMD scientist Kuldeep Srivastava.
There will be light winds in Delhi on Tuesday. No more rain is expected for the rest of the week. The temperature could be between 11 and 25 degrees Celsius. The AQI is likely to stay 'very poor' all week, which means that November has been a month of severe pollution in Delhi.
Earlier this month, light rain had briefly lowered pollution levels. But the air quality worsened again after Diwali. By 8.30 pm on Monday, Delhi received about 17.3 mm of rainfall in November, which is much higher than the average for the month.
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