NEW DELHI: The skies turned dark and strong winds whipped up dust storm across the national capital and neighbouring areas on Thursday, affecting visibility. This is the second spell of dust storm to hit Delhi and nearby areas in less than a week. Heavy rains and hail were also reported at isolated places, especially in North Delhi, weather experts said.
A few areas reported incidents of uprooting of trees that damaged power lines and vehicles. Delhi residents shared videos of rain water gushing into balconies and plumes of dust engulfing the streets on social media.
Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the regional forecasting centre of the IMD, said it was a result of a fresh western disturbance. Winds gusting up to 60 kmph barrelled through the capital whipping up dust storms. A few areas witnessed hailstorm, Srivastava said.
Gusty winds and rains led to a significant drop in the mercury especially in North Delhi. The temperatures dropped by at least two notches elsewhere, he said. The IMD said that dust storms and hail storms are a common occurrence in the period between April 15 and June 15 in entire northwest India.Northwest India hasn’t witnessed a heatwave so far due to frequent western disturbances this year, said Mahesh Palawat of Skymet Weather.
(With agency inputs)