NEW DELHI: Delhi-NCR on Wednesday received “moderate to heavy” rainfall that brought relief from a long spell of hot and humid days, but created trouble for commuters disrupting both road and air traffic.
The city is likely to witness more rainfall as the weather department has issued an ‘Orange’ alert for Thursday.
IGI Airport officials said at least three flights were diverted and 40 others were delayed in the afternoon. “At least 25 flights that were due to take off and 15 arrivals were delayed by several hours due to bad weather,” said an airport official.
Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi’s base station, received 51.2 mm rain between 11.30 am and 2.30 pm, classified as ‘moderate’. Palam weather station, which mostly impacts air traffic, received a ‘heavy’ spell of 91.8mm rain within three hours during the same time.
Heavy showers led to waterlogging, which coupled with uprooted trees and vehicles breaking down on key stretches, caused major traffic snarls across Delhi-NCR, clogging the Gurgaon-Delhi Expressway, NH-8, DND flyover, Aurobindo Marg, Delhi Cantonment, AIIMS-IIT flyover and Ring Road, among others.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials, it was after the first monsoon shower on June 30-July 1 when Delhi had received 119.2mm rain. In between, high humidity level and rising mercury made for a punishing trail of hot and humid days with the heat index (real feel, a measure of both humidity and air temperature) shooting up to around 50 degrees C during the day.
“The rain was a result of the monsoon trough moving close to the northern plains. The cooling effect in the region is reflective of both its spread and volume. But its impact on the temperatures will be visible only on Thursday, as the minimum temperature will drop on account of rain and gusty winds,” said R K Jenamani, senior IMD scientist.