Heavy rain, thunderstorm lash Delhi-NCR
Highlights
- Very heavy rains and strong winds lashed Delhi-NCR today morning
- The weather department has issued an orange alert for the NCR region for today
- Several flight operations were also affected at the Delhi airport
Delhi-NCR received heavy rain, along with thunder and hailstorm in the wee hours on Monday, bringing relief to locals from the summer heat. Trees were uprooted in some areas due to the impact of strong winds.
In one of the tremendous impacts of the thunderstorm, the surface temperature across the NCR saw a drastic fall. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the temperature fell by 11 degrees Celsius -- from 29 degrees Celsius to 18 degrees Celsius in between 5:40 am to 7 am today.
Meanwhile, power blackouts were also reported from parts of the city.
Flight operations at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport were also affected due to the bad weather.
According to the website of the Delhi Airport, more than 40 departure flights were delayed due to bad weather and other related issues, while nearly 18 arrival flights to Delhi airport were delayed due to bad weather. Two flights were cancelled.
Due to weather conditions, several flights were diverted to Jaipur and other airports.
Delhi airport sources said hundreds of passengers were left stranded, with all the early morning flights departing from Delhi being rescheduled as the weather was unfavourable.
IMD weather alert
On Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an 'orange alert' for the national capital predicting light rain accompanied by squall at the speed of 50-60 kmph on Monday under the influence of a western disturbance.
"Dust storm/Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with a speed of 50-80 Km/h is very likely to continue over Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas during the next 2 hours," IMD had tweeted.
IMD said that impact on vulnerable structures, kutcha houses, traffic and visibility is expected and suggested people stay indoors and avoid travel if possible.
Delhi rains - Twitter flooded with weather videos
Meanwhile, several pictures and videos were uploaded on Twitter early on Monday, that showed the strong impact of winds and lightning.
