Cyclone Arnab has intensified into a cyclonic storm and is expected to make landfall along the Andhra Pradesh coast on Wednesday. In the wake of the cyclone over the Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Department has issued heavy to extremely heavy rainfall warnings and weather alerts across the eastern, southern, and central states.
Apart from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Bihar are also likely to witness isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall.
Cyclone Arnab's interaction with an approaching Western Disturbance could bring moderate to heavy showers in Delhi NCR and adjoining parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana on Thursday and Friday.
Weather enthusiast Navdeep Dhaiya on X said that AQI will remain under check at least till this weekend. "Karwa Chauth is likely to be impacted by cloudy weather and rains this time and prepare for significant drop in day temperatures as well," he said.
Meanwhile, meteorologists note that the cyclone is drawing dry winds from inland regions, while increased wind speeds across the northern plains are helping disperse pollutants.
While several places in Himachal recorded a sub-zero minimum temperature, Delhi on Tuesday logged its lowest October minimum in three years dipping to 15.3°C, or 1.9 degrees below normal, at Safdarjung.
Ayanagar recorded the lowest minimum temperature among the weather stations at 15.2°C.
An air quality index (AQI) of 170 was recorded at 9.05am, with 15 stations out of 55 recording the poor category, including Jahangirpuri, Rohini, Mundka and Siri Fort.
