Very light to light rain, gusty winds hit parts of south Delhi

New Delhi: Parts of Delhi witnessed a spell of very light to light rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds, on Sunday evening, bringing temporary relief from the heat.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said an east-southeastward moving cloud cluster triggered the weather activity, with winds reaching speeds of 30 to 40 kilometres per hour, gusting up to 50 kmph, over the southern parts of the national capital within a span of one to two hours.

The wind speed picked up significantly in several locations -- Palam and Jharoda Kalan in southwest Delhi recorded gusts of 65 kmph and 37 kmph respectively at 4:30 pm, while a thundersquall was reported over Safdarjung between 4:35 pm and 4:37 pm, with winds peaking at 66 kmph.

Additionally, Pragati Maidan reported the highest gust of the day at 76 kmph at 4:45 pm.

According to the IMD, the sudden spell was caused by multiple interacting weather systems. These include a Western Disturbance as a cyclonic circulation over north Pakistan in the middle tropospheric levels, another cyclonic circulation over Haryana in the lower levels and a continuous moisture feed from the Arabian Sea.

Other dynamical and thermodynamical factors also contributed to the development of the storm, it stated.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 37.9 degrees Celsius, 2.1 notches below the seasonal average.

Meanwhile, the relative humidity oscillated between 98 per cent and 56 per cent.

The weather department has forecast a thunderstorm, accompanied by lightning and gusty winds (40-50 kmph), for Monday with the maximum and minimum temperatures expected to settle around 37 degrees Celsius and 21 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The air quality was recorded in the "moderate" category at 4 pm on Sunday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 197, date from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed.

According to the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".