After a prolonged dry spell and heatwave conditions recorded last week, light to moderate intensity rainfall, strong winds, and a thunderstorm are likely over parts of Delhi and the NCR in the next two hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a forecast issued at around 1.55 pm.
The forecast is for West Delhi, South-West Delhi, and parts of the National Capital Region, including Greater Noida, Dadri, and Bulandshahr. A hail storm and strong winds of about 30 to 50 kmph are likely over parts of Delhi, including Paschim Vihar, Ballabgarh, and Palwal over the next two hours, the forecast indicates.
Meanwhile, amid the sweltering heat, rain lashed parts of Delhi and Noida Wednesday evening bringing the temperatures down.
A western disturbance has brought respite from heatwave conditions over Northwest India, which has witnessed a dry and unusually hot start to the summer this year. The month of March saw no rainfall at all in Delhi, while April recorded a deficit of around 98 per cent. The IMD had said recently that the reason for a deficit in rainfall over northwest and central India in March and April was that the western disturbances were dry and feeble and moved across the northern parts of the Himalayas, failing to bring any significant rainfall to northwest India.
The absence of rainfall kept temperatures high, and Delhi witnessed a total of three heatwave spells in March and April. The normal rainfall at the Safdarjung weather observatory in March is 15.9 mm, while that for April is 12.2 mm. The rainfall recorded in April at Safdarjung was just 0.3 mm.
With the current western disturbance bringing strong winds and cloudy skies, the maximum temperature has fallen. On Tuesday, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung was below 40 degrees, standing at 38.4 degrees. The minimum temperature remained high at 28.8 degrees, four degrees above the normal, early on Wednesday. With dry conditions abating, relative humidity also increased to 64 per cent as of 8.30 am on Wednesday.
However, the relief from heatwave conditions is likely to be short-lived. A fresh spell of heatwave conditions is likely to set in over Central India from May 5 onwards and over Northwest India from May 6 onwards. The maximum temperature over Northwest India is not likely to change significantly over the next two days, but could rise by three to four degrees thereafter, according to the IMD forecast issued on Wednesday.
