Morning freak shower takes city by surprise

Freak thundershowers on Saturday morning brought down the temperature by a few notches in the city and also disrupted flight services at the airport.

Freak thundershowers on Saturday morning brought down the temperature by a few notches in the city and also disrupted flight services at the airport.

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The overcast sky finally opened up by 10am, catching morning commuters by surprise. The city received 18.5 mm on Saturday.

“It suddenly looked like a monsoon day. The sun was hidden and it turned so dark,” said Sonali Mehta, a 28-year-old sales executive who got drenched in the rain on her way to work at Connaught Place. “It's better than the stuffiness prevailing in the past few weeks.”

After Saturday's strange weather, which delayed 50 flights and caused 12 to be diverted from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, the Meteorological department expects fog on Sunday.

“We are monitoring the situation and are ready to operate in low visibility,” said RK Jenamani, director, Met department (IGIA).

According to the Met department, Saturday's squall and the clouds arrived from northwest India , where a low pressure had formed at the moment.

However, the Met department does not expect this weather to continue.

“The effect of this weather will remain early Monday but it will peter out as the day progresses,” said the duty officer at the India Meteorological Department headquarters.