Delhi gets first intense spell of monsoon rain

Parts of Delhi and its neighbouring towns received intense, localised showers on Sunday – the first widespread spell of rain since the monsoon arrived in the Capital on Thursday – even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for Monday, forecasting more rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds

Parts of Delhi and its neighbouring towns received intense, localised showers on Sunday – the first widespread spell of rain since the monsoon arrived in the Capital on Thursday – even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for Monday, forecasting more rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds.

The weather department said cloudy skies and intermittent rainfall are likely to continue through the week (Arvind Yadav/ HT)

The weather department said cloudy skies and intermittent rainfall are likely to continue through the week, with maximum temperatures expected to remain around 36°C and minimum temperatures near 23°C.

Although the monsoon officially reached Delhi on Thursday, the city had witnessed only isolated, light showers over the next three days despite IMD issuing yellow alerts for rainfall.

Sunday, however, brought widespread precipitation across the Capital. According to IMD data recorded till 5.30pm, 11 weather stations reported rain of varying intensity. Chhatarpur received the highest rainfall at 48.5mm, followed by Palam with 16.4mm, Ridge with 10.2mm and Ayanagar with 8.2mm. Safdarjung, Delhi’s representative weather station, recorded 6.4mm of rainfall.

Despite the showers, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung settled at 38.6°C, while the minimum temperature was 29.2°C.

“We expect light to moderate rain over Delhi on Monday, while isolated to scattered showers are likely on Tuesday and Wednesday as well. Thereafter, the weather is expected to gradually clear and temperatures may rise. The monsoon will remain active for the next two to three days,” he added.

In Gurugram, heavy rain lashed several parts of the city, with the three official weather stations recording a combined 34.4mm of rainfall till 5.30pm.

The downpour once again triggered widespread waterlogging, inundating roads and exposing the city’s chronic drainage problems. Residents reported flooding in Sectors 3, 7, 9, 10, 10A, 34 and 69, besides Ashok Vihar Phase III, the Bus Stand area, Khandsa Road, Rajendra Park, Daulatabad Industrial Area, Basai, Gurugram village, Bajghera, Surat Nagar, Dhanwapur and Carterpuri. Gurugram recorded a maximum temperature of 35.6°C, up from 33.9°C on Saturday, while the minimum temperature rose marginally to 27.8°C.

In Noida, the official weather station at APMC did not record measurable rainfall, although residents in several parts of the city reported brief spells of rain during the day.