Delhi-NCR wakes up to cloudy skies, dust storm; IMD predicts rain, thunderstorms

NEW DELHI: Delhi-NCR woke up to cloudy skies on Friday, with a dust storm sweeping parts of the region. Delhi had recorded a maximum temperature of 36.8 degrees Celsius on Thursday, 2.8 notches above the seasonal average, while the minimum settled at 18.9 degrees Celsius. The weather department has predicted thunderstorms accompanied by rain on Friday night and Saturday. Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘moderate’ category, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 189 at 7 pm on Thursday, as per data from the Central Pollution Control Board. It was 167 at 9 am. According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0–50 is considered ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’, and 401–500 ‘severe’.(With Agency Inputs)