Day after dust storm, IMD predicts rain in Delhi-NCR

Several parts of the country are likely to witness a wet spell accompanied with thunderstorms and lightning on Saturday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday predicted rain accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning in several parts of the country including Delhi-NCR, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, northeastern states and others.

Rain brings the mercury down: commuters heading to their destination during rain on Friday. (Gurpreet Singh/Hindustan Times)

“Light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning is likely over Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan, south Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, south-east Arunachal Pradesh, south-east Assam, Manipur, south interior Karnataka and Kerala during the next 3 hours”, it said in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter).

The national capital on Saturday woke up to pleasant weather after it witnessed overnight dust storms and rain. The minimum temperature in Delhi settled at 24.9 degrees Celsius, 0.5 notch below the season's average, said the weather agency.

Dust-storm wreaks havoc in Delhi-NCR:

After days of soaring temperatures, Delhi and adjoining areas including Noida and Ghaziabad witnessed thunderstorms, strong winds, and light rainfall on Friday, causing traffic disruptions and flight diversion in the national capital.

Delhi Police said that it received 152 calls related to tree uprooting, 55 calls related to building damage, and 202 calls related to power disruption.

Meanwhile, nine flights were diverted from the Delhi airport late in the evening due to bad weather. Some of the flights were diverted from the airport to Jaipur.

Traffic was also affected in the national capital and the adjoining areas as trees fell on the roads due to the gusty winds.

IMD issues yellow alert for Himachal Pradesh:

The Regional Meteorological Centre, Shimla, has issued a yellow alert for rain and hailstorms in five districts of Himachal Pradesh for the next three days from May 11 to 13. The alert has been issued for districts including Kangra, Hamirpur, Shimla, Mandi, and Kullu during the next three days. Temperatures are also expected to drop below normal in the state.

Badrinath-Rishikesh highway closed:

Further, due to heavy rainfall, the Badrinath-Rishikesh highway was closed near Sirobagadh, due to which passengers going to Badrinath and Kedarnath have been stopped at Srikot-Srinagar and Kaliyasod.

Srinagar Kotwal Hoshiyar Singh Pankholi said that care is being taken to ensure that passengers do not face any problems. Due to continuous debris falling in Sirobagadh, the road has not been opened yet.

(With inputs from ANI,PTI)