A fresh dust storm moving in from western India is expected to affect Delhi-NCR, bringing reduced visibility, strong winds, and a temporary drop in air quality, according to weather alerts issued for the region.
These dust storms, locally known as aandhi are a common pre-monsoon phenomenon across northwest India and are closely linked to extreme heat conditions over the Thar Desert in Rajasthan.
How dust storms form
During late spring and early summer, surface temperatures in the Thar Desert can rise above 44°C, leaving soil extremely dry and loose. Under these conditions, strong thunderstorm systems often generate powerful downward air currents known as downdrafts.
When these downdrafts hit the hot desert surface, they spread outward rapidly, creating high speed winds that can exceed 40–50 km/h. As the winds move across dry terrain, they lift fine particles of sand and dust into the atmosphere, forming dense moving walls of dust.
Why Delhi gets affected
Northwest India lies directly in the pathway of these winds. Seasonal pre-monsoon westerlies act like a transport corridor, carrying dust from Rajasthan across Haryana and into Delhi and surrounding regions.
As a result, dust storms originating in desert areas can reach the capital within hours, especially during peak pre-monsoon activity.
Dust storms significantly increase concentrations of particulate matter such as PM10 and PM2.5, which can enter the respiratory system and affect lung health. People with asthma, heart disease, or allergies are especially vulnerable during such events.
Visibility often drops sharply during these storms, and the Air Quality Index can deteriorate rapidly. Although temperatures may temporarily fall after the storm passes, the improvement is usually short-lived.
Pre-monsoon dust storms are a natural feature of North India’s climate system, but their intensity and frequency can be influenced by changing land conditions, rising temperatures, and shifting wind patterns.
Meteorologists note that these systems typically weaken after midnight or once the storm cell moves further eastward, restoring clearer conditions.
Overall, the event highlights how desert weather systems and urban air quality are closely linked across large geographic distances in northern India.