Squall and thunderstorm cool city, more in the offing: Met
RESPITE FROM HEAT Mercury comes down by 10°C but Metro, flight services and traffic affected
NEWDELHI: Rain, squall and thunderstorm lashed Delhi on Thursday afternoon, bringing down the mercury by around 10 degrees Celsius.
India Meteorological Department officials said light rain is likely to continue intermittently in the national capital over the next one week.
“A squall with wind speed reaching up to 60 km per hour hit Delhi followed by an intense spell of thunderstorm and rain. More rain is expected in the next seven days,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior scientist with the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre in Delhi.
While maximum temperature shot up to 37 degrees Celsius — one degree above normal — on Thursday morning, the mercury dropped to around 27 degrees Celsius — a drop of nearly 10 degrees — after the rain.
The minimum temperature stood at 28.6 degrees, which was one degree above normal. However, while Safdarjung area received around 34.2 mm of rain, Palam recorded only around 4.6 mm of rain.
Although the meteorological department had earlier forecasted that rains could “vanish” till Sunday, a cyclonic circulation over Delhi and Haryana turned the tables in Delhi’s favour, officials said on Thursday. The monsoon trough, which triggers rain, was likely to shift towards the Himalayan foothills, meteorologists had earlier forecasted. But that didn’t happen and it continues to remain over Delhi and Haryana, triggering rain, officials said.
“The sky is likely to remain cloudy and more rain is expected over the next few days. The maximum temperature will remain around 36 and 38 degrees Celsius,” said an official.
The squall and heavy rain disrupted flight and Metro services. While airport officials said there were minor delays in arrivals and no flight had to be diverted or cancelled, Metro services were disrupted on the violet line for around three hours. There were at least 40 incidents in South Delhi, in which trees were uprooted or branches broke off. Waterlogging was also reported from some areas.
OFFICIALS SAID THE MONSOON TROUGH, WHICH TRIGGERS RAIN, WAS LIKELY TO SHIFT TOWARDS HIMALAYA BUT THAT DID NOT HAPPEN