Intense heat, moistureladen winds causing squalls: Met dept
NEW DELHI: A severe dust storm and thunderstorm tore through Delhi in the early hours of Wednesday, with wind speed up to 106 km per hour. The Indian Meteorological Department has warned of more thunderstorms and squalls over the next three days.
“It was the most violent thunderstorms that the city has witnessed this season so far. While the wind speed recorded at Safdarjung was 98 km per hour, at Palam the gusts reached a speed of 106 km per hour,” said a senior official of the regional weather forecasting centre.
Most parts of Delhi also received very light rain. While Safdarjung antd Lodhi Road received around 0.2 mm, Palam received just trace. Rohtak in Haryana, around 70 km northwest of Delhi, recorded around 45 mm of rain.
IMD officials said that while on one hand a western disturbance is approaching, moisture laden easterly winds are again getting stronger.
“The western disturbance, moisture brought in by the easterlies and the intense heat over northwest India are together creating ideal conditions for more thunderstorms over the next three days,” said an official.
Wednesday’s thunderstorm was triggered by the intense heat over northwest India and moisture being brought by the easterlies.
A cyclonic circulation that had developed over Rajasthan shifted closer to Delhi-ncr.
Such storms develop suddenly due to local atmospheric phenomenon and affect isolated areas but could be violent.