Dust storm, rain hit Delhi, scuppers city transport, air traffic

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) A hailstorm accompanied by heavy rain with wind speed of 79 kmph lashed Delhi-NCR late Wednesday evening, causing tree felling, waterlogging and traffic jams in many areas, after the city endured a hot and humid day.

Flight operations were hit at the Delhi airport, while Metro passengers on the Yellow Line were stranded for hours.

"Our flight schedules are currently impacted due to the heavy rains and thunderstorm sweeping across Delhi, Chandigarh and Kolkata," IndiGo said in a post on X.

Air India, in a post on X, said rain and thunderstorms may disrupt flights to/from Delhi this evening.

"Due to bad weather (thunderstorm with heavy rain) in Delhi (DEL), all departures/ arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected. Additionally, traffic movement to the airport might be affected due to heavy rains," SpiceJet said in a post on X.

Strong winds and dust storms hit several parts of the capital, with the city's primary weather station in Safdarjung recording wind speeds of 79 kmph, while Palam reported 74 kmph, Pragati Maidan 78 kmph, and Pitampura 65 kmph, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

In the three hours between 5.30 PM and 8.30 PM, Safdarjung recorded 12.2 mm of rainfall.

Other stations also reported showers, Mayur Vihar recorded 13 mm, and Pitampura reported 5 mm of rainfall.

The Delhi Traffic Police, through its official social media platforms, issued a traffic alert stating that traffic is affected on Mathura Road in the carriageway from Neela Gumbad towards Ashram due to the uprooting of a tree opposite P S Nizamuddin.

According to a report from the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) at Palika Kendra, 13 tree fall complaints were received from the NDMC area alone.

Tree branches fell in several areas, including Vikas Marg, Akshardham Road, Sikandra Road, Firoz Shah Road, and on the loop towards Akshardham Road.

A billboard fell on Vikas Marg near the Laxmi Nagar red light intersection.

Waterlogging was witnessed in several areas, including near the Akshardham Flyover, Sikandra Road, and under Tilak Bridge near ITO.

Manoj Kumar, a resident of Kamla Nagar, commuting by Metro, said, "The metro train I was travelling on did not move for over half an hour between Rajiv Chowk Metro-Patel Chowk stretch." In its nowcast update, the IMD said that the convection has moved southwards, away from most parts of North, Northwest, West, Southwest, and Northeast Delhi, and is currently over South and East Delhi as well as Noida. It is likely to move away from Delhi within the next hour.

The IMD also reported a sharp drop in temperature, noting a 14-degree Celsius fall from 37 degrees Celsius in Palam due to the sudden weather change.

According to the weather department, winds with speeds of 60-70 kmph were reported across Delhi and nearby areas. Palam recorded a wind speed of 20 knots (approximately 35 kmph), gusting up to 40 knots (around 72 kmph).

The IMD said a cyclonic circulation over Haryana and its neighbouring areas, embedded in an east-west trough extending from Punjab to Bangladesh in the lower tropospheric levels, is influencing the weather. Moisture is feeding into the system from both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, it added.

The weather shift came hours after Delhi experienced sweltering conditions, with the heat index – or the "feels like" temperature – soaring to 50.2 degrees Celsius, owing to a mix of high humidity and intense sunshine.

According to the IMD, the maximum temperature Wednesday touched 40.7 degrees Celsius, 0.5 degrees above normal, while humidity levels oscillated between 64 and 34 per cent. PTI NSM BUN VN VN