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Delhi Weather: After days of choking haze, Delhi finally woke up to clearer skies and cleaner air on Saturday, thanks to strong winds and rainfall that
swept pollutants out of the atmosphere. The dramatic improvement in air quality brought much-needed relief to residents, even as weather agencies warned that the respite may not last long, with fog, falling temperatures and fresh rain spells lined up over the coming days.
Strong Winds Push AQI into ‘Moderate’ Zone
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 192 at 4 pm on Saturday, placing it in the ‘moderate’ category. This marked a sharp improvement of nearly 100 points from Friday’s ‘poor’ AQI of 282.
Air quality continued to improve through the evening, with AQI readings dropping to 184 at 5 pm, 165 at 8 pm and 163 by 10 pm. Notably, this was the Capital’s first ‘moderate’ air day since October 13, 2025, when the AQI was recorded at 189.
Under CPCB norms, an AQI between 101 and 200 is classified as ‘moderate’, while levels above 200 fall into the ‘poor’ or worse categories.
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Weather experts attributed the sudden turnaround to strong surface winds following widespread rain on Friday. Mahesh Palawat, vice president at private forecaster Skymet, said wind speeds remained consistently high at around 18–20 kmph through Saturday, helping disperse pollutants.
“The wind speed, as predicted, stayed strong and led to the dramatic improvement in air quality. These conditions are likely to continue for at least another day,” Palawat said.
Friday’s rain was significant too. Delhi recorded 19.8 mm of rainfall, the highest single-day January spell in three years, last seen on January 30, 2023, when 20.3 mm was logged. The showers were triggered by a western disturbance affecting north India.
Delhi Weather Forecast
Along with cleaner air, Saturday also brought back winter’s bite. The minimum temperature dropped sharply to 7.6°C, just 0.1°C above normal but a steep fall from Friday’s 13.7°C, when cloud cover had kept nights warmer.
The maximum temperature settled at 18.2°C—2.1°C below normal, though still higher than Friday’s daytime high of 16°C. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects minimum temperatures to hover between 4°C and 6°C on Sunday, rising to 8°C–10°C by Tuesday. Day temperatures are likely to stay in the range of 18°C–21°C over the next few days.
Despite the current relief, forecasts suggest air quality may worsen again soon. The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) warned that AQI is likely to slip back into the ‘poor’ category on Sunday, deteriorate further to ‘very poor’ on Monday, before oscillating between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ over the following days.
Weather-wise, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Tuesday, forecasting generally cloudy skies with one or two spells of light rain. Thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds reaching speeds of 30–40 kmph are likely during the early morning to forenoon hours, followed by another light spell later in the day.
Palawat noted that the rain expected on Tuesday would be due to a second western disturbance, though its intensity is likely to be lower than the system that brought Friday’s showers.
