NEW DELHI: After days of heatwave conditions, the Capital witnessed dark clouds, followed by strong winds, thunder and spells of rain on Thursday evening.
The change in weather brought much-needed relief and a sharp drop in temperatures after several days of scorching conditions across Delhi.
After the weather changed, temperatures dropped significantly by around six to 10 degrees Celsius over the past 24 hours. According to the IMD, a fall of three to 11 degrees Celsius was recorded across various weather stations in Delhi due to thunderstorm activity.
Safdarjung, the city’s base station, logged a maximum temperature of 41.1 degrees Celsius, 0.7 degree below normal and 3.2 notches lower than the previous day. The minimum temperature settled at 28.4 degrees Celsius, 1.8 degrees above normal and 2.2 degrees higher than a day earlier.
Rainfall recorded till 7 pm included 6.5 mm in Mehrauli, 0.9 mm at Pragati Maidan and 0.5 mm at Ayanagar. While Ayanagar recorded a temperature drop of 11 degrees Celsius due to the thunderstorms, Mehrauli saw a decline of 10 degrees Celsius and Narayana recorded a fall of 6 degrees Celsius.
The weather department issued a red alert, warning of moderate to severe thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, dust storms and isolated hailstorms at several places, with wind speeds likely to reach up to 80 km per hour.
The IMD has also issued an orange alert for Friday, forecasting thunderstorms accompanied by rain. The minimum temperature is expected to settle around 24 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature is likely to witness a major drop and remain around 36 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the weather office said the current spell of rain and thunderstorm activity is likely to continue till May 31.
“Thunderstorm activity has already begun over northern parts of Rajasthan and is expected to spread to Delhi by evening and continue through the night,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, meteorology and climate change, Skymet Weather.
He pointed out that the intensity of the storms is likely to increase on Friday and that the spell is expected to continue till May 30, after which the weather system is likely to shift towards Gujarat between May 30 and 31. “The current spell of pre-monsoon rains is likely to be stronger than the pre-monsoon showers witnessed in Delhi earlier this month and in April, leading to widespread rainfall activity across the city,” Palawat said.
The city had recorded 13.61 mm of rainfall over five days in May before the current spell, the IMD said.
Orange alert for today
The IMD has issued an orange alert for Friday, forecasting thunderstorms accompanied by rain. The minimum temperature is expected to settle around 24 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature is likely to witness a major drop and remain around 36 degrees Celsius.