Phones across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) were filled with alarms on Saturday evening. The text on the screen for some people in Noida was titled “Extremely High Alert”.
“A thunderstorm accompanied by lightning, fast winds (speed of 60-80 km/h, reaching 90 km/h), moderate to heavy rain and hailstorms are likely to occur over some places in your area during the next three hours. Some got it in Hindi while others got an English version with subtitles,” she said.
This came as residents of Delhi-NCR on Saturday received some relief from the scorching heat in the form of light rain, while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) placed parts of the city and its adjoining areas under red alert for thunderstorms as well as dust storms.
As per the IMD forecast seen at 4:30 pm on Saturday, North, North-West, West and South-West Delhi districts have been put on red alert, while the rest of the city has been placed under orange alert.
The red warning was for a “severe thunderstorm” with surface winds reaching a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour and hail, along with a dust storm and rain.
Besides Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh were also under red and orange warning respectively, while yellow warning was in force in Gurugram in Haryana, according to IMD’s nowcast.
Meanwhile, images of a massive dust storm sweeping parts of Rajasthan also emerged on social media.
Over the weekend, the International Meteorological Department expected a temporary easing in the heat, and issued a yellow alert earlier for rain and thunderstorms. Light to light rain and thunderstorms are also expected on Sunday as well, with wind speeds of around 40-50 kmph in the morning. The International Meteorological Institute expected the sky to be partly cloudy on Monday and Tuesday, while the sky will remain mainly clear from Wednesday to Friday.
The city recorded a minimum temperature of 24.6 degrees Celsius on Friday, and the maximum is expected to range between 35 degrees Celsius and 37 degrees Celsius. Temperatures are expected to rise again from June 1 and are likely to reach 40°C to 42°C by Thursday, June 4.
Videos purportedly from Churu and Bikaner showed a heavy, moving sandstorm covering parts of the city.
