Rain brings relief to parched city
NEW DELHI: Dark grey clouds saved the capital’s residents from another day of sweltering heat on Wednesday and, by evening, they had given way to rain and even hail in parts of Delhi. Gusty winds of speeds of up to 50km per hour further aided in cooling down the city, India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said.
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport officials said at least three flights were diverted to Jaipur and a few others delayed from departing on Wednesday evening owing to the gusty winds, thunderstorm activity and rain.
Areas such as Rohini and Pitampura also reported brief hail activity post noon, the IMD said. While Safdarjung, Delhi’s base station for weather readings, recorded a maximum temperature of 39.1 degrees Celsius (°C) on Wednesday,one degree above normal and 0.7 degrees higher than Tuesday, there was a drop in mercury by around six degrees between 4pm and 6pm, when it fell from 37°C to 31°C, owing to the wind and rain, Met officials said.
The IMD, however, said the relief from the heat will be shortlived -- mercury is expected to rise again from Thursday, but heatwave conditions are likely to return to the Capital only after May 8, the weathermen said.
While trace rainfall was recorded at Safdarjung between 8.30am and 5.30pm, Faridabad reported 7.5mm of rain during the period, followed by Ayanagar (2.4mm) and Jafarpur (1mm). Trace rainfall was also recorded at Palam, Lodhi Road and Ridge during the day, IMD said. Between 5.30pm and 8.30pm, Safdarjung recorded 1.4mm of rainfall, the IMD said.
“Large parts of Delhi recorded a drizzle, with some parts received light rain in two spells -around noon and then after 4pm,” said a met official.
While the maximum temperature is expected to touch the 40-degree mark on Thursday, it will rise to 42°C by Saturday and 43°C by Monday. “While isolated parts of Delhi will see a return of heatwave conditions from May 8 onwards, by May 10, heatwave conditions should return all across Delhi, with Safdarjung’s maximum likely to touch 44°C,” said the official quoted above.
Rain in May isn’t unusual, with western disturbances often causing short but intense spells of rains, the weathermen said.
The normal rainfall mark for May is 19.7mm, however, Delhi has been going through a dry spell since the end of February. It recorded no rainfall in March, though the normal mark for the month is 15.9mm. In April, Delhi recorded 0.3mm of rainfall, received on the day of April 21.
The normal rainfall for April is 12.2mm, met officials said.
Navdeep Dahiya, a weatherman who runs ”Live Weather of India“, said hail in May is not unusual, largely occurring when warmer easterly winds rise and meet thunderclouds that are much cooler and cause the moisture to immediately convert into hail. “Easterly winds are laden with moisture and they have been influencing northern India over the past three days, enhancing the approaching western disturbance (WD). WDS are upper air systems and easterly winds generally contain a lot of moisture and rise to those upper levels. If they meet these passing thunderclouds, then the moisture reaches freezing point fairly quickly and one can see short but intense hail activity in places,” he said.
In terms of maximum temperature, Najafgarh was the hottest at 40.5°C, while the highest minimum of 31.5°C was recorded in Pitampura. The minimum remained high at Safdarjung too, at 28.8°C – four degrees above normal. The relative humidity oscillated between 37-66% in the last 24 hours.
Three flights diverted
Airport officials said three flights were diverted to the Jaipur airport, between 5pm and 7.30pm, on account of bad weather. Flights departing from Delhi during that time also faced delays due to the inclement weather, and air traffic congestion was reported between 6pm and 7.30pm, officials said.
As per the IMD, strong winds and squall activity often make it difficult for aircraft to land safely. Among the flights diverted were an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah to Delhi, an Indigo flight from Mumbai to Delhi and an Air India flight from Mumbai to Delhi.
Anushree Majumdar, a passenger on the Air India flight to Delhi, said it took off from Mumbai around 4.45pm but was diverted to Jaipur, from where they departed for Delhi around 8.30pm. “The airline told us that this was happening due to bad weather, traffic and some operational difficulties,” she said.