Overview

• IMD placed Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad under an orange alert early Tuesday, with Gurugram and Faridabad on a yellow warning.
• Showers and thunderstorms were accompanied by lightning and gusts of 30–50 kmph, with forecasters flagging a limited hail risk in spots.
• Fresh snowfall in the higher Himalayas contributed to a sharp dip in temperatures across the northern plains, including Delhi-NCR.
• Air quality readings showed short-term improvement in parts of NCR, with CPCB data indicating lower AQI levels than recent days.
• Chandigarh logged 33.4 mm on Monday, its wettest October day since 2004, as the rain belt extended across northwest India.