Khushi Bhuta, Pune
In the early hours of Friday, the city of Delhi faced heavy rain, which led to waterlogging and traffic jams in several areas of the Capital just before rush hour. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had previously warned that there would be sporadic periods of extreme rainfall.
The Delhi Traffic Police stated that waterlogging led to traffic on Rohtak Road in both lanes from Rajdhani Park towards Tikri Border and vice versa. The traffic police also recommended commuters make appropriate changes to their regular routes accordingly. They added that the rain had also affected the traffic on MB Road in both lanes from Hamdard T-Point to Tigri. Moreover, subsequently, after a tree fell due to heavy rain, the road near Rouse Avenue Court had been blocked as well. Mehrauli-Badarpur area and Mohan Nagar in Ghaziabad have also felt the effects of waterlogging.
IMD predicted that Delhi and portions of the NCR, including Hindon Air Force Station, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Noida, Dadri, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad, Manesar, and Ballabhgarh, would have light to moderate rain and wind. IMD further urged residents of Delhi to stay in safe, indoor areas.
The department had predicted a gusty wind speed of 50-70 km/h accompanied by rain caused by clouds moving from Uttar Pradesh, located northwest of the national capital. The expected temperature range predicted by IMD was between 26-36°C. They had also stated that the rain would continue “till around 09:30 of today thereafter gusty wind and rain spell will decrease gradually” in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
According to the weather prediction, Delhi residents may anticipate generally cloudy skies with mild to moderate rain throughout the next five days. The forecast had further been backed up by various other weather forecasting agencies such as Skymet. Weather forecasting agency Skymet highlighted, “Intense rain approaching Delhi NCR from the north. May cover the entire Delhi soon.”
The heavy rainfall followed a consistent lack of rainfall in the latter half of August. Thursday recorded a maximum temperature in Delhi of 37.6 degrees Celsius, which is four degrees more than the expected average temperature during the current season. It has been further anticipated that the southwest monsoon will be heavy over central and eastern India up until September 21st.