Heavy rain and thunderstorms lashed Delhi in the early hours of Monday, making it the wettest October day in four years, bringing down temperatures and improving the city’s air quality to the ‘satisfactory’ category for the first time this month.
“This is a normal weather pattern, and the showers are typical post-monsoon rainfall. The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi’s base weather station, recorded 41.6 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Monday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The last time the city recorded higher rainfall in October was on October 9, 2022, when Safdarjung received around 74 mm. The Ridge recorded the highest rainfall among the city’s five weather stations at 49 mm, followed by Safdarjung at 41.6 mm, Lodhi Road at 41.4 mm, Ayanagar at 39 mm and Palam at 31 mm during the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am. Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, the Ridge recorded another 1.4 mm of rainfall, while Safdarjung, Palam, Lodhi Road and Ayanagar reported no rainfall during the period. Kamla Nehru Nagar in Ghaziabad recorded the highest rainfall at 52 mm between 8.30 am on Sunday and 7 am on Monday, followed by Janakpuri at 35 mm, Pragati Maidan at 35.2 mm, Narayana at 40 mm, and Pusa at 42 mm, according to the IMD’s automatic weather station network.
The showers were triggered by a combination of weather systems, including a western disturbance over northern Pakistan, a cyclonic circulation over Haryana and winds from the Bay of Bengal and southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea, a weather expert said. Residents can expect intermittent showers over the next three days,” said Mahesh Palawat of Skymet.
