NEW DELHI: A massive thunder storm coupled with high-speed dusty winds hit the national capital this evening throwing life out of gear as it crippled road traffic, metro services, flight operations and power supply network.
Thousands of people were stranded outside Metro stations and on roads as traffic almost came to a halt due the storm accompanied by winds at a speed of over 90 kmph.
Most areas in the city plunged into darkness as the storm which struck at 4:58 PM uprooted trees snapping power lines in several areas. Metro train services were disrupted on almost all lines for about an hour due to power failure during the evening rush time.
Met department termed the storm as "cumulonimbus" and attributed it to western disturbance over Pakistan. NCR areas of east Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad were most affected by the storm.
Met office said similar weather conditions are likely to persist for over the next two days. At least 12 flights were diverted due to the storm, an IGI official said.
Areas in South, East and North Delhi faced long power cuts ranging from one to four hours. Supply of power could not be restored till late in the evening in several areas in North and North West Delhi.
The city saw massive traffic jams as the storm uprooted nearly 40 trees snapping power lines in many areas and affecting traffic lights leading to chaos on the streets.
"The cumulonimbus brings tall thunderstorms and dusty winds with a speed of over 92 kmph and is caused because of western disturbance, which is currently over Pakistan.
"The meeting of cold air and hot air on the Indo-Gangetic plains causes low pressure area and also lot of instability. This results in severe thunderstorm," IMD Director General L S Rathore said.
The storm affected northeast Haryana and the NCR. But parts of east Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad were affected the most, he said.
"This phenomena is likely to continue for the next two days," Rathore said.
The maximum temperature recorded today was 42.8 degree Celsius while the minimum was 29.1 degree.