NEW DELHI: Thunderstorm and rain lashed parts of the national capital on Wednesday, bringing respite from the stifling heat while causing power outages and traffic snarls in some parts of the city.
Traffic was blocked on the Delhi-Noida flyway after a large billboard came crashing down as high-velocity winds barrelled through Delhi and neighbouring areas.
A few areas in the city also reported incidents of the uprooting of trees.
The Delhi Police received 22 calls related to the uprooting of trees causing traffic jams.
Owing to the dust storm that preceded the rains, a power transmission line near Sarai Kale Khan developed a fault, affecting electricity supply in some localities of south Delhi, officials said.
Power supply was also affected at a few other areas as electricity lines snapped due to falling of tree branches during the storm, power distribution company officials said.
The India Meteorological Department said the rain occurred under the influence of a cyclonic circulation over north Rajasthan and a trough running from north Pakistan to a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal.
Light rains and thunderstorms were witnessed in parts of Delhi with winds gusting up to 50 kilometres per hour, said Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the regional forecasting centre of the India Meteorological Department.
The weather department said the thunderstorm was more severe in Noida and Ghaziabad.
The mercury is expected to reduce in the next few days as moisture-laden easterly winds due to the low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal will bring showers in Delhi-NCR on June 12 and June 13, he said.
No heatwave is expected in the capital till June 15, the official said.
The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded a maximum temperature of 41.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above the normal, before the rains.
On Sunday, it recorded a high of 34.8 degrees Celsius, which was five notches below the normal.
The weather stations at Palam and Ayanagar recorded their maximum temperatures at 43.6 degrees Celsius and 42.2 degrees Celsius respectively. Humidity levels oscillated between 43 and 74 per cent.
The weatherman has predicted light rains and thundershowers with winds gusting up to 40 kilometres per hour for Thursday evening. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to settle at 40 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius respectively.