Delhi-NCR wakes up to rain & thunderstorm; 6 flights diverted, traffic hit

NEW DELHI: Moderate to heavy intensity rainfall along with thunderstorm lashed Delhi and its adjoining National Capital Region (NCR) early on Saturday morning.

The rainfall brought down the soaring temperature in the cities.

Uprooted trees and waterlogging led to traffic snarls in several parts of the city, including at the Vasant Vihar-Delhi airport road stretch, the Kanshiram Takkar Marg and the Mahipalpur highway underpass.
Commuters took to Twitter to complain about traffic jams.
Major jam building on flyover from Vasant Vihar to airport, a person posted on the social media platform, while another reported heavy traffic on the flyover to Rohini from Mangolpuri.
Road blocked from both sides after tree fell on Kanshiram Takkar Marg, a Twitter user posted. Mahipalpur underpass towards highway is waterlogged, another person posted.


Delhi airport officials on Saturday informed that flight operations were affected due to bad weather in the national capital.

"Due to bad weather, flight operations are impacted at Delhi airport. It is advisable to contact the airlines concerned for updated flight information," informed the officials in their tweet.
Another tweet stated, "Six flights have now been diverted to Jaipur this morning due to bad weather. All flights were coming to Delhi from different cities."

India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted the rains and thunderstorms in Delhi and its surrounding areas on Saturday morning.

"A cluster of cloud patches are passing through the Delhi-NCR. Thunderstorm/ dust storm with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 40-70 km/hour would continue Delhi-NCR & adjoining areas during the next 2 hours," tweeted IMD.

The weather department also predicted rain in Delhi for the next two to three days and no heat wave is predicted until May 30.
According to the weather department, the maximum and minimum temperatures on Saturday may hover around 37 and 22 degree Celsius respectively. The daytime temperature, IMD said, would oscillate between 35 and 38 degree Celsius over the next seven days due to moist winds and occasional drizzling.
The national capital saw a slight decline in the daytime temperature on Friday.

The weather conditions were likely to remain the same for the next four to five days, said officials.
According to IMD, very light rain to drizzle may take place on Monday.
“There are chances of light rain to drizzle on Saturday morning which will prevent the daytime temperature from rising. Another spell of rain is possible on May 29. Meanwhile, extreme heat conditions will remain under control for at least four to five days with a partially cloudy sky,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, weather scientist, IMD.
(With inputs from agencies)
Watch Delhi-NCR wakes up to rain; pleasant weather to stay for next few days