Rain cools city, mercury down by 10 degrees
NEW DELHI: Delhiites heaved a sigh of relief as rain and thunderstorm lashed the national capital on Wednesday evening, bringing down the mercury by 10 degrees Celsius.
At least 15 incoming flights were diverted to nearby airports due to the sudden change in weather.
Officials of the regional weather forecasting centre in New Delhi said that there is a possibility of drizzle and light rain continued on Thursday.
“Delhi was hit by a dust storm in the afternoon followed by thunderstorm and rain late in the evening. Even though such events during this time of the year don’t last long, it helped pull down the temperature by around 10 degrees Celsius,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior scientist with RWFC.
On Wednesday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 38.3 degrees Celsius, which is normal during this time of the year. The minimum temperature was recorded at 27 degrees Celsius, which is two degrees above normal.
The temperature around 5:30pm on Wednesday was 30 degrees Celsius. But soon after the rains, the mercury level dropped to around 20.2 degrees Celsius. The Safdarjung observatory recorded 13.4mm of rain.
“The rain was triggered by the combined effect of a western disturbance and a cyclonic circulation, which had formed over Haryana. These types of events are normal during the months of April and May. Such events help to keep a check on the rising mercury level,” Srivastava added.
The maximum temperature on Thursday is expected to remain around 36 degrees Celsius. On April 26, the day temperature had shot up to 42 degrees Celsius – the highest of the season so far.