Many parts of Delhi woke up to light rain on Monday morning, and some areas also witnessed thunderstorms. The India Meteorological Department first issued a yellow alert for most of the southern half of the city at around 7:00 am, which was later updated to a red alert for most parts of the city at around 8:20 am.
At around 8:20 am, the IMD said in a statement: “A new dense cloud mass moving towards the southeast across Rohtak is likely to affect most places in Delhi with very light rain, thunderstorms, lightning and strong winds of 60-70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph after an hour.”
A red alert has been issued for the north, northwest, northeast, centre, east, parts of the south-east, west and New Delhi, along with the entire Shahdara. An orange alert has also been issued for most areas of southwest and south Delhi and southern parts of New Delhi.
According to IMD data, the highest amount of rainfall recorded on Monday morning was in Palam, which received 1.3 mm of rain from 5:30 am to 8:30 am, followed by Chhatarpur, which received 1 mm, and Pitampura and Busa, which received 0.5 mm of rain during the same period.
Ayanagar also received 0.6 mm of rain from 5:30 pm on Sunday to 8:30 am on Monday, while Lodhi Road received only trace amounts of rain in the same period. No other weather station recorded rainfall as of 8:30 a.m. Monday.
The IMD also said at around 8:20 am that light rain with light thunderstorm is expected at Bawana, Rajouri Garden, Patel Nagar, Safdarjung, Lodhi Road, Buddha Jayanti Park, President’s Residence, Rajiv Chowk, ITU, Kalkaji and Tughlakabad in Delhi, and in Rohtak, Kharkhuda and Palwal in Haryana, during the next two hours.
The city is expected to receive more rain today, as this week’s IMD forecast, issued at 8:30 pm on Sunday, predicted a spell of light to light rain along with thunderstorms and lightning in the afternoon or evening.
The IMD also stated that thunderstorms may occur on Tuesday afternoon/evening as well, and that the city will see more rain on Saturday.
Despite the rain, the maximum temperature in the city is expected to rise and is likely to reach 42°C to 44°C by Saturday. Maximum temperatures are expected to range between 38°C and 40°C today. The minimum, recorded today at 28.2°C, is expected to follow a similar high over the next week, reaching 30°C to 32°C by Saturday.
If the rain continues, the city may see an improvement in air quality. The city’s air quality index was recorded at 135 at 9:00 a.m. Monday.
