Monster cloud triggers rain, expect more showers today
RELIEF Met says there were about six cloud cells, the entire system measured 150 km in length and 50 km in breadth
Darkness descended over Delhi as a monster cloud standing nearly eight kilometre thick triggered rain and thundershower in the city on Sunday afternoon.
Even though the city came to a near-standstill for a few minutes, the rain and gusty winds helped to bring down both the pollution and mercury levels drastically.
With more such rain in store for Monday, experts predicted that Delhiites cannot only hope for some respite from the scorching heat but also from the high pollution levels at least for the next two days.
“There were at least six cloud cells, which entered from the south of the city. The main cloud cell was at least 8-km thick. The entire system measured around 150 km in length and around 50 km in breadth covering almost the entire city. It was a huge system, moving pretty fast. In just one and half hour the system reached Meerut,” said an official of the regional weather forecast centre in New Delhi.
Met officials blamed it on two systems — a western disturbance and a cyclonic circulation — that converged over the north western states. This gave rise to the cloud which then moved towards Delhi-NCR.
The system triggered strong winds sometimes gusting up to 90 km per hour. The rain, however, was short-lived. While areas such as Safdarjung received around 2.2 mm of rain, Palam and Ridge areas received less than 0.4 mm. Aya Nagar received around 8 mm of rain. Reports of hail also poured in from some places.
The rain and thundershower helped improve the air quality.
The Air Quality Index of Delhi maintained by System of Airquality-weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) improved from ‘Very Poor’ to ‘Good’ within just 30 minutes. Both PM10 and PM2.5 levels dropped by at least five times.
Branches of trees were found broken in many places, including India Gate. Wires also snapped at several places across the city.
While the city’s civic body control room received about 15-20 calls about broken branches blocking roads, the telephone lines of the local met department conked off.