- Rain and winds brought relief from high temperatures in Delhi on Sunday morning
- IMD forecast thunderstorms, lightning, gusty winds, and hailstorms for western Himalayas
- The alert covers Sunday and Monday for western Himalayas and adjoining plains
Bringing relief from high temperatures uncharacteristic of early March, Delhi and surrounding regions witnessed rain, lightning and winds on Sunday morning.
An orange alert is in place in Delhi, indicating moderate rain, lightning and gusty winds. In Noida and Gurugram, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert is in place, indicating light rain.
As of 7 am, the temperature recorded at Delhi's Safdarjung weather station is 22 degrees Celsius.
The weather body had on Saturday forecast thunderstorms, lightning, gusty winds and likely hailstorms in the western Himalayas and adjoining plains on Sunday and Monday.
A dip in temperatures was being reported since Saturday with a yellow alert in place for Sunday. The temperature is predicted to dip further in the next few days.
"Due to a western disturbance approaching the western Himalayas, cyclonic activity has developed over central Pakistan adjoining Punjab and Haryana. As a result, parts of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi are likely to witness rainfall over the next two days. This is expected to be the season's first pre-monsoon rain, which has arrived about 10 days earlier than usual," Mahesh Palawat, vice president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather, told PTI.
The advancing, Palawat added, has been triggered by the western disturbance combined with the higher temperatures the city has been experiencing over the past few days.
According to forecasts, the minimum temperature is likely to be around 14-16 degrees Celsius by Monday. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 31-33 degrees Celsius by Monday, according to the Met department.
Delhi's air quality is likely to remain in 'moderate' category for the next few days, according to forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System.
The much-awaited respite comes days after the capital recorded its hottest day of the year so far as the mercury shot up to 36.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, 8.4 degrees above normal. On Friday, Delhi woke up to the hottest morning this year as the minimum temperature settled at 20.4 degrees Celsius.
In Himachal Pradesh's Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts, an orange alert will stay in place till March 18. A yellow alert has been issued for Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi and Shimla on Monday and Wednesday.
In Rajasthan too, an alert for rain, strong winds, and possible hailstorms remains in place in several districts till Monday, with changing weather patterns expected till March 21.
