Delhi thunderstorms over the weekend likely to bring relief from heatwave
A western disturbance is a storm originates over the Mediterranean Sea that usually brings in rain bearing clouds to Delhi, influencing wind direction and speed. When the air lacks moisture such disturbances may not always result in rain.
A likely thunderstorm or a dust storm on Saturday could provide some relief to the national capital from scorching heat that touched 42.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday afternoon.
Met officials said favourable wind activities on the western horizon could result in a thunderstorm or a dust storm on Saturday which could bring down the mercury level by at least three degrees.
“A western disturbance is approaching and this could pave the way for a thunderstorm or dust storm accompanied with squally winds. It is likely to hit the city between Friday evening and Saturday evening,” a senior scientist of the regional weather forecasting centre said on Wednesday.
A western disturbance is a storm originates over the Mediterranean Sea that usually brings in rain bearing clouds to Delhi, influencing wind direction and speed. When the air lacks moisture such disturbances may not always result in rain.
“But rain or no rain, the thunderstorm and squally winds would be enough to arrest the rising mercury level at least for a brief period. We expect the day temperature to come down to around 39 degrees over the weekend,” said the official.
The thunderstorm would cool down the air in the high altitudes and because of the convection current this colder air mass would come down to lower levels, providing some relief to Delhiites.
A similar activity in the first week of April had triggered heavy rain in some parts of Delhi. April 4 was the wettest day in April in almost a decade.
The result was that the night temperature dropped to around 16.5 degrees on April 8 making it the coldest day of April since 2011. The effect lingered over the next three to four days.
“Higher the rainfall we get out of such disturbances, the more would be the drop in mercury level,” the scientist said.