Thunderstorm, heavy rains lash Delhi, several flights diverted; brings in winter chill

The air quality in Delhi remained in the ‘severe’ category for the second consecutive day on Thursday even as light rains lashed the city in the evening.

Heavy rains, coupled with thunderstorm, lashed several parts of the national capital Thursday evening, which is expected to improve the city’s air quality and bring the temperature further down. Several flights have been diverted as well.

Vehicles move at Gurugram amid Heavy Rain on a winter, in Gurugram, India, on Thursday night, 12 December 2019. (Yogendra Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Under the influence of a western disturbance, the national capital recorded rains with strong winds for nearly two hours, said Kuldeep Srivastava, the regional weather forecasting head of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

According to the Safdarjung observatory, reading of which is considered official for the city, 1.9 mm of rainfall was recorded till 8.30 pm.

Meanwhile, the Met department said Delhi recorded a low of 12.8 degrees Celsius and a high of 21.5 degrees Celsius on Thursday. The weatherman said the temperature is likely to drop after Saturday.

The Met department has also forecast thunderstorm with hail on Friday. The minimum and maximum temperature are expected to be around 13 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius.

Following heavy rains and thunderstorm, the city’s air quality is expected to improve on Friday.

Delhi’s suburbs, Ghaziabad (467), Noida (434), Greater Noida (423), Faridabad (410) and Gurgaon (395), also breathed extremely polluted air on Thursday.

An AQI between 301-400 is considered ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’. An AQI above 500 falls in the ‘severe plus’ category.