Early morning showers across several parts of Delhi were reported on Friday, leading to a dip in temperatures, while light rain accompanied by thunderstorms provided some relief from air pollution. However, despite the improvement, air quality remained in the “poor” category, standing at 297 at 7 am, as per data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The national capital began Friday with rainfall and thunderstorms as temperatures dipped to around 11-13 degrees Celsius. The India Meteorological Department issued a nowcast alert for the area early in the morning, forecasting moderate rain, thunderstorm and lightning with gusty winds of 40-60 kmph over various areas in Delhi-NCR.

The IMD has issued an orange alert nowcast warning at 4:50 IST on January 23, 2026, flagging light to moderate rainfall along with a moderate thunderstorm and lightning with gusty winds of 40-60 kmph, at a few places over parts of Delhi and adjoining areas over the next two hours.

As per the IMD update, impacted areas in Delhi include Narela, Alipur, Burari, Rohini, Bawana, Kanjhwala, Model Town, Pascim Vihar, Aadpur, Mundaka, Punjabi Bagh, Rajouri Garden, Najafgarh, Dwarka, Jafarpur, and Badili. The nowcast also mentioned impact over NCR (Bahadurgarh) and parts of Haryana, including Jhajjar, Rohtak, Narnaul, Farukhnagar, Mahendragarh, Narnaul, and Kotpuli in Rajasthan.

Moderate rain in Delhi

IMD stated that light to moderate rain could be accompanied by moderate thunderstorms and lightning along with gusty winds in the 40-60 kmph range. The nowcast specified that these conditions were likely for the next two hours. The weather outlook for Friday is predicted to have maximum temperatures of 18-20 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 11-13 degrees Celsius, generally cloudy sky with two spells of light rain along with thunderstorm/lightning mainly from early morning to afternoon. Another spell of very light rain is expected towards the afternoon/ evening along with shallow fog during the morning hours.

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In a separate Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, New Delhi update, light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning was predicted with 30-35 kmph gusty winds for parts of Delhi. And for several locations in Haryana, including Yamunagar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, the Kaithal belt areas, Narwana, Panipat, Sonipat, Charkhi Dadri, and Rohtak, among others.

Thunderstorms and lightning forecast for these places

The Weather Department has also notified about thunderstorm activity along with lightning and gusty winds likely over Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttarakhand on January 23.

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A possibility of hailstorm activity at isolated places over Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh has been forecast for January 23.

IMD warning for dense fog

Beyond thunderstorms and hail, the IMD weather bulletin also highlighted reduced visibility risks in days ahead because of fog. It has cautioned that dense fog could take place in isolated pockets over Rajasthan from January 24 to 26. Similar conditions are also expected over Punjab, Chandigarh, and Haryana during January 24-26. The IMD has also specified dense to very dense fog may take place in isolated pockets on January 25 and 26. This means visibility could drop during morning and night hours. This weather pattern may not ease immediately, as another intense Western Disturbance was likely to impact northwest India between January 26 and 28, 2026