Delhi has surplus rain for May, more showers likely

Delhi’s maximum temperature settled at 30.6 degrees Celsius (°C) —nine degrees below normal for this time of year—on Wednesday

Residents of Delhi woke up to another unusually cool May day, the third in a row, with large parts of NCR recording light to moderate showers that led to heavy waterlogging and traffic congestion on arterial routes of the city, as well as gusty winds and hail in some areas.

People at Red Fort in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

Delhi’s maximum temperature settled at 30.6 degrees Celsius (°C) —nine degrees below normal for this time of year—on Wednesday. According to Met officials, Delhi has received 36.9mm of rain so far this month, eclipsing its monthly rainfall average mark of 30.7mm in just three days.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said while the impact of the current western disturbance influencing the region is expected to reduce from Thursday onwards, drizzle to very light rainfall may still be recorded during the day. Delhi will then see light showers on May 6 and 7, following a fresh western disturbance in the region from May 5 onwards.

A western disturbance refers to an area of “disturbed” or reduced air pressure, moving from the west to the east, carrying with it moisture associated with rainfall, snowfall and fog in northern India.

Safdarjung, which is representational of Delhi’s weather, recorded no rainfall from 8.30am on Tuesday to 8.30am on Wednesday. Between 8.30am and 5.30pm, however, it received 20.9mm of rain. Intermittent showers continued throughout the day, with a dark and gloomy sky dominating large parts of NCR post noon. Among the other stations, Pitampura received 55.5mm of rain, Lodhi Road recorded 24.6mm, Mungeshpur recorded 31.5mm, Palam 11.8mm and Pusa 15.5mm. In Gurugram, 14mm of rainfall was recorded in the same period, leading to waterlogging in several parts of the city and traffic congestion in at least five key stretches including Hero Honda Chowk and Rajiv Chowk; while no rainfall data was available for the day for Noida.

The weather department classifies rainfall between “trace” and 2.4mm as “very light”, as “light” when it is between 2.5mm and 15.5mm, as “moderate” when it is between 15.6mm and 64.4mm and as “heavy” when it is over 64.5mm in a single day.

“The impact of this western disturbance was seen in most places of Delhi, with Hauz Khas and Green Park also reporting hail. The maximum wind speed went up to 50kmph at Palam around 2.30pm,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD, adding this wet start to May will continue, even with the intensity of rain reducing in the next few days.

Across NCR, isolated hail was reported from Sonepat, Faridabad, Gurugram and Manesar, officials said. Owing to gusty winds, airport officials said an Air Vistara flight from Mumbai to Delhi had to be diverted to Ahmedabad airport at 2.50pm. “Other than this, there was no significant impact on operations,” an airport official said.

The downpour and thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon, however, led to heavy waterlogging and congestion in the city. A large portion of a road too caved in Khureji Khas while a portion of a building collapsed in Rohini, however, no casualty was reported. PWD field teams were deployed to repair the damaged stretch in Khureji Khas around 11am, but the ongoing rainfall disrupted the repair work, which is likely to be completed by Thursday morning, official said. A PWD official said that the work for digging up poles for CCTV cameras was taking place in the area, which may have damaged the sewerage line. “The exact reason is not clear but continuous rainfall may have contributed to erosion,” the official added.

Delhi Traffic Police was forced to issue four traffic advisories asking the commuters to avoid key areas such as Aurobindo Marg near Adhchini, AIIMS towards IIT Delhi due to waterlogging near Yusuf Sarai, Wazirabad flyover and GT Karnal road near the bus depot. According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the civic body’s control rooms received complaints of waterlogging from Milap Nagar, Uttam Nagar and Vasant Kunj. The corporation’s maintenance teams were also deployed to tackle fallen trees near Bhajanpura market and Jhilmil children’s park.

Meanwhile, IMD said cloudy skies may persist on Thursday as well. “We will see the sun come out on Thursday, but with moisture still present in the air, localised rain is possible,” Srivastava said, adding Delhi’s maximum temperature will rise gradually in the coming days, clocking 36°C by May 9.

Delhi’s maximum temperature on Tuesday was 28.3°C, up from 26.1°C a day earlier. In terms of minimum, Delhi recorded 20.1°C— five notches below normal—up from 19.3°C a day earlier.

Last May, Delhi recorded 47.7mm of rain, while in 2021, it received 144.8mm of rain— largely due to the impact of Cyclone Tauktae. The all-time rainfall record for May is 165mm, recorded in 2008.

March and April too recorded excess rain this year, withDelhi receiving 53.2mm this March—nearly three times higher than the monthly average mark of 17.4mm— and 20.1mm in April as opposed to the monthly average of 16.3mm.

In terms of air quality, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was in the “moderate” range, a deterioration from Tuesday’s “satisfactory”. The 24-hour average AQI reading was 103 (moderate) according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily bulletin on Wednesday, down from 76 (satisfactory) on Tuesday.

Forecasts show the AQI is likely to remain in the “moderate” category till Saturday now. An AQI reading between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.