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Residents of Delhi are bracing for another rainy day on Friday after the weather office predicted thunderstorms accompanied by hail. The weather in the national capital has remained gloomy with the minimum temperature settling a notch below normal at 16.8 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature is expected to settle at 27 degrees, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Thunderstorms with hail are predicted for Friday, an IMD official said. The national capital's roads and lanes still bear the signs of Thursday's rain. Delhi reported 16 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours. Strong winds followed by a thunderstorm hit the national capital for the second consecutive day on Thursday. The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded 5.8 mm rainfall between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm on Thursday. The Palam Observatory recorded 1.1 mm precipitation while the observatories at Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar received 7.6 mm, 4.5 mm and trace rainfall, respectively.
Overcast conditions prevailed in Delhi on Republic Day and the minimum temperature settled at 12.8 degrees Celsius, the highest this month so far. Some parts of the national capital reported shallow fog and the maximum temperature is expected to settle around 19 degrees Celsius. Cloudy weather in Delhi due to a western disturbance affecting northwest India has kept the minimum temperature within comfortable levels for around a week. Clouds trap heat that gets through during the day, keeping night-time temperatures above normal. However, cloudy weather reduces daytime temperatures by preventing exposure to the sun. Delhi is likely to see cloudy skies for the next four to five days. A fresh western disturbance may lead to light rainfall on January 29, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The city has not recorded any rainfall this winter season so far. The meteorological department attributed it to the lack of strong western disturbances in November and December. Last
Light rain triggered by a western disturbance occurred in isolated areas of eastern Rajasthan, the Met office here said on Tuesday. Vair in Bharatpur received the maximum precipitation at 21 mm during the last 24 hours. Roopwas received 17 mm rain and Gangapur and Bayana received 11 mm each. Other areas of Bharatpur, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli and Dholpur also received light rain during the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am, the Met office said. Night temperatures also increased in many parts of the state. It was appreciably above normal in Jaipur division, above normal in Kota division and normal in the state's other divisions. The lowest temperature was recorded in Bikaner at 5.6 degrees Celsius. The weather remained cloudy in many areas and dense to very dense fog occurred at isolated places in the morning.
Severe cold weather conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana, with Bathinda, Faridkot and Hisar recording sub-zero minimum temperatures on Tuesday. Bathinda and Faridkot in Punjab reeled under a piercing chill, recording minimum temperatures of minus one degrees Celsius each, according to the Meteorological Department's weather report. Biting cold also swept Amritsar, which recorded a low of 1.4 degrees Celsius while Ludhiana registered a minimum of 1.6 degrees Celsius. Patiala, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Moga and Mohali were also under the grip of severe cold, recording respective minimums of 2 degrees Celsius, 2.9 degrees Celsius, 2.8 degrees Celsius, 0.8 degrees Celsius and 6.2 degrees Celsius. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a low of 5.7 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, freezing cold swept Hisar, which recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.3 degrees Celsius. Cold wave also swept Sirsa, which recorded a low of 0.2 degrees Celsius. Karnal, Narnaul, Roht
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) may soon get additional sets of weather observations through AMDAR that can help improve forecast accuracy, particularly when early warning systems are proving to be important in view of increasing instances of extreme weather events. The AMDAR or the Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay is available for every flight landing or take-off from an airport with the aircraft sensor recording the air temperature, wind speed, direction, barometric pressure, water vapour and transmitting the data to the ground stations. These reports, available with meteorological departments worldwide, contribute up to 10 per cent in the impact of the numerical prediction model and play a key role in reducing errors in 24-hour forecasts. The other sources of information for the prediction models include the atmospheric data gathered from weather balloons, sea surface temperatures from buoys anchored in the high seas and weather stations across the country. "Nearly ..
India recorded an extreme weather event on almost 90 per cent of the days in the first nine months of this year, with Himachal Pradesh logging the highest number of human deaths, according to a new report. These disasters claimed 2,775 lives, affected 1.8 million hectares (ha) of crop area, destroyed over 4,16,667 houses and killed close to 70,000 livestock, stated the report, 'Extreme Weather Report 2022', released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). This estimation of loss and damage is probably an underestimate as data for each event is not collated, nor are the losses of public property or crop loss calculated, the green think tank said. "India recorded extreme weather events on 241 of the 273 days from January 1 to September 30 this year. This means that close to 90 per cent of the first nine months of this year, India had an extreme weather event breaking in one or more parts of the country," the report read. At 140, Madhya Pradesh saw the highest number of days