Dust storm brings respite, heat to be back next week
RELIEF Strong winds bring temperature down to 39.2° Celsius from Tuesday’s 43.7° Celsius
A dust storm in the national capital on Saturday brought down temperatures by a few notches, providing some respite from the blistering heat in Delhi.
After temperature rose to 43.7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, making it the hottest April day this year, Saturday was relatively better when the mercury dropped to 39.2 degrees Celsius.
Though many had hoped for rains on Saturday, under the influence of a western disturbance, which is a storm that originates in the Mediterranean sea and is currently over Jammu and Kashmir, it was wind speed that picked up in the city.
At 4.30 pm, the wind speed docked at 4 kmph. Within five minutes, by 4.35 pm the wind speed reached 39kmph.
As there has been no rain in the city over the last couple of weeks, and the mercury has been rising to over 40 degrees Celsius on most days, dry dust kicked up, causing a dust storm in the city.
The strong winds were too much to handle for some, with a tree being visibly uprooted on Zakir Hussain Marg, and the dust storm is likely to adversely impact air quality too.
“The wind-blown natural dust is not as hazardous as the particles from combustion sources. But these combustion pollutants settle on dust particles, and will also be blown up during dust storms,” explained Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of Centre for Science and Environment.
The winds also surprised people when it blew up bits of cotton in many parts of Delhi. Residents of Chittaranjan Park, Greater Kailash, Defence Colony and Lajpat Nagar areas were surprised to see the bits of cotton floating in the air.
“It was only when I looked closer that I realised they were tufts of cotton,” said Ahana Batabyal, a resident of CR Park.
Though India Meteorological Department said the chances of rain in Delhi were slim, the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC) said that Delhi-NCR areas such as Faridabad, Greater Noida, Sikanderabad, Siyana, Bulandshahr, and Jahangirabad, witnessed some thunderstorm and rain on Saturday.
On Sunday, the mercury is expected to drop to 26 degrees Celsius in the morning and rise up to 39 degrees during the day.
The lower temperatures will continue till Thursday. By Friday, the day temperature is expected to climb back to 40 degrees Celsius.