Rains, accompanied by gusty winds, lashed parts of the city, including east Delhi, Shahdara, northeast Delhi, west and south, amid cloudy weather, bringing a sharp plunge in humidity levels.
New Delhi: Residents in the national capital witnessed respite from the humid autumn heat as rains lashed parts of the city on Saturday afternoon bringing a welcome change in the weather as humidity levels took a considerable dip and air quality improved.
Rains, accompanied by gusty winds, lashed parts of the city, including east Delhi, Shahdara, northeast Delhi, west and south, amid cloudy weather, bringing a sharp plunge in humidity levels and improving air quality. However, the downpour caused waterlogging in several areas leading to traffic snarls.
According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, waterlogging was reported near the Tata Power Limited office on Kanjhawala Road in northwest Delhi. Traffic was also reportedly affected in several parts of the national capital, including along the Delhi-Gurgaon border.
In east Delhi’s Dilshad Garden area, the outer wall of a school collapsed causing damage to around 11 vehicles parked near it. Other incidents of mayhem caused by the rains, including trees falling, were reported in northwest Delhi’s West Shalimar Bagh, Block BF in Shalimar Bagh, and Gujranwala Town in north Delhi’s Model Town area.
As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi on Saturday recorded a high of 35.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season’s average while minimum temperature settled at 27 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average.
However, rains and accompanying winds considerably reduced humidity in the air, resulting in a pleasant afternoon for Delhiites.
Meanwhile, the IMD has predicted a generally cloudy sky with light rain or drizzle for Sunday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle around 36 and 25 degrees Celsius.
The Safdarjung observatory, the city’s main weather station, recorded 15.2 mm rainfall, the Delhi University observatory logged 24.5 mm and the Ridge observatory 25 mm, the MeT said.
The humidity oscillated between 84 per cent and 78 per cent.
Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 109 in the ‘moderate’ category around 6 pm.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
(With PTI inputs)