The sky turned completely dark at 5.30 pm, about two hours earlier than usual, as rains lashed parts of south Delhi. (Express photo)
Dust storm and strong winds hit Delhi and the national capital region on Saturday, bringing respite from sweltering heat that saw maximum temperatures hovering around the 41 degrees Celcius mark for the past 10 days. The dust storm had an immediate impact and brought the maximum temperature down to 36 degrees Celcius from 39 degrees.
The sky turned completely dark at 5.30 pm, about two hours earlier than usual, as rains lashed parts of Delhi, including Chhatarpur, Green Park, RK Puram and Akbar Road. The Met department had predicted rains or squall in the afternoon. Private forecaster Skymet said humid winds had increased the moisture levels across the northwestern plains and as a result, light to moderate rains and thundershowers were expected on June 9 and June 10 across the region.
Light to moderate rain and thundershowers with isolated dust storm activity will continue over Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, North Rajasthan and many parts of West Uttar Pradesh during the next 48 hours. Most places in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and isolated places in Jammu & Kashmir will also see moderate to heavy rainfall.
As many as 27 incoming flights were diverted from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Saturday evening following a powerful dust storm and rain, officials said. An IGIA official said the diversions took place between 5 pm and 6 pm. "Till 6.00 p.m. 27 flights have been diverted due to the weather condition," the official told IANS.
The monsoon officially arrived in Mumbai on Saturday and hit the city and other parts of Maharashtra with full fury, disrupting flights, the suburban train system and road traffic, besides claiming two lives. There were at least two incidents of building crashes here as water-logging was reported from several parts and in adjoining Thane, one person was electrocuted and another was killed due to a lightning strike. Follow live updates here.
Even as the sudden rainfall brought the much-needed respite from the heat for Delhiites, power blackout was reported in some parts of Faridabad. Trees were uprooted in many parts of Delhi-NCR due to gusty winds, which reached a speed of 70-80 kmph. There was no report of damage to property or casualties as yet.
Akbar Road, Dwarka, RK Puram, Chhatarpur is witnessing heavy rainfall. ANI reports that about 18 flights have been diverted due to thunderstorm and rain in Delhi.
(Express photo)
Meanwhile, Jet Airways has issued an advisory and said some of the flights might be affected. "Due to adverse weather conditions in Delhi, some of our flights to & from Delhi have been affected," the airline tweeted.
The Met department had earlier today predicted that there will be strong winds of 70-80 kmph this evening, and light rain. It was a humid morning in Delhi today as the minimum temperature settled at 30 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average. Humidity was recorded at 71 per cent. The maximum temperature yesterday was recorded at 40.5 degrees Celsius.
Welcome to our live blog. A dust storm, with winds gusting up to 70 kmph, hit the city this evening, taking residents by surprise. The weatherman said light rain was witnessed in many areas.