NEW DELHI: The weather changed dramatically in the national capital on Saturday compared to the warm spell that had enveloped the region for the last few weeks. The sky remained overcast and there was a spell of light rain and hailstorm in some parts of the city, bringing relief to the people. The maximum temperature fell five notches below the season’s average to 25.3 degrees Celsius, the lowest so far this month, officials said.
The observatory at Aya Nagar recorded the maximum rainfall at 8.4 mm, followed by Palam at 3.3 mm and Lodhi Road at 3 mm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The minimum temperature was recorded at 18.2 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.
The city also witnessed waterlogging in several areas. The traffic police received three calls regarding waterlogging near the Tikri border, Bagga Link roundabout in Karol Bagh and the Loni Road roundabout, officials said. Commuters also complained about traffic jams in some areas. Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre, said, “An active western disturbance over northwest India is causing rain in the region and hailstorm in some areas.
Another western disturbance will start affecting the region (from) Sunday; generally cloudy skies and on-and-off rain will continue over northwest India till March 20-21.” According to the weather department, thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed up to 30-40 kmph will occur over northeast Delhi and adjoining areas. Meanwhile, hail precipitation would occur over Burari, Civil lines, Kashmere Gate, Delhi University and Noida. Rain is also expected in the NCR (Bahadurgarh, Ghaziabad, Chhapraula, Gurugram Sohna in Haryana.