Delhi likely to witness thunderstorms, rain through this week: IMD

New Delhi: Cloudy skies, thunderstorms, and rain are expected to grace the national capital throughout the last week of this month, already deemed the wettest May ever, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.

In its weekly weather forecast, the weather department said Delhi is likely to witness cloudy skies with the possibility of thunder, lightning, and rain.

Gusty winds measuring up to 30-50 kmph, reaching up to even 60 kmph are also expected.

The minimum temperature is likely to fluctuate between 25 to 27 degrees Celsius, while the maximum may range between 33 to 37 degrees Celsius.

With a sudden change in weather last Saturday, which dumped 81.4 mm of rain in just a few hours, Delhi recorded its wettest May since 1901, the IMD said.

This month’s cumulative rainfall has reached 186.4 mm, surpassing the previous record of 165 mm set in May 2008.

Sunday’s rainfall alone- classified as “heavy” by IMD standards -was also the second-highest 24-hour rainfall ever recorded in the city in May, following the 119.3 mm logged on May 20, 2021.

The unusually intense storm was the result of an interaction between moist southeasterly winds and dry westerlies, intensified by three weather systems: a western disturbance over north Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir and two upper air cyclonic circulations- one over northwest Uttar Pradesh and north Haryana, and the other over west Rajasthan.

IMD data shows that Delhi already recorded 77 mm of rain on May 2.

The recent spell of unseasonal and intense rainfall, making this the wettest May on record, reflects the increasing variability in India’s pre-monsoon weather patterns.

“While localised systems like western disturbances have contributed, the larger trend points to a warming atmosphere that holds more moisture and disrupts established seasonal rhythms,” Vishwas Chitale, Senior Programme Lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) said.

In 2024, Delhi witnessed extreme rainfall in late June following a prolonged period of intense heat.

Chitale further noted that this year, the monsoon has arrived a week earlier than expected in Kerala and is projected to reach Delhi around its usual time.

However, he cautioned that such extremes- in both heat and rainfall- serve as a reminder that monsoon arrival alone no longer defines climate preparedness.