Heavy Rain In Delhi Affects Flights, More Downpour Predicted Today

Delhi woke up to heavy rain and gusty winds this morning as the city enjoys a break from a brutal heat spell. The downpour impacted flights and uprooted trees in the city.

A thunderstorm forecast was issued this morning for the national capital and nearby areas including Noida and Ghaziabad. The weather office had earlier predicted rain till Tuesday.

A cluster of cloud patches are passing through the Delhi-NCR. Under its influence:

Thunderstorm/ Duststorm with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 40-70 Km/h would continue Delhi-NCR & adjoining areas during next 2 hours. pic.twitter.com/UR8fdktm7B

— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) May 27, 2023

"A cluster of cloud patches are passing through the Delhi-NCR. Under its influence: Thunderstorm/ Duststorm with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 40-70 Km/h would continue Delhi-NCR & adjoining areas during next 2 hours," tweeted India Meteorological Department.

They also tweeted the expected impact of the thunderstorm and suggested actions to avoid traffic jams or any untoward incident.

Kind attention to all flyers!#Badweather #Rain pic.twitter.com/2NUCfzpczw

— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) May 27, 2023

Delhi Airport said flight operations were impacted and asked the flyers to contact their airlines for updated information. Four in-bound flights were diverted to Jaipur due to bad weather, news agency ANI reported.

The mercury crossed the 45 degrees Celsius-mark earlier this week, shooting up the power demand in Delhi. The city won't see such scorching heat at least until next Tuesday, according to the weather department.

Delhi's maximum temperature settled at 34.5 degrees Celsius yesterday, five notches below normal.

Heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature reaches 40 degrees in the plains, 37 degrees in coastal areas and 30 degrees in hilly regions with a departure of at least 4.5 degrees.

Northwest India is likely to see below-normal maximum temperatures in May, the weather office predicted earlier this month. It is anticipating a normal monsoon rainfall this year but a slight delay in its arrival.