NEW DELHI: A strong thunderstorm with winds reaching 84 kmph that raised swirls of dust hit the city on Friday evening, impacting traffic movement, flight operations and power supply, while knocking down several trees. The strong winds followed light rain in several parts of the city, cooling the ambient temperature by around eight degrees and bringing welcome relief for Delhiites from the heat and humidity.
An airport official said 35 Delhi-bound flights were diverted while over 100 flights were delayed. “Air traffic control suspended flying operations for nearly half an hour,” said the official.
Motorists too didn’t have a good time. Fallen trees disrupted traffic on Mathura Road, Lodhi Road, at Janakpuri, Okhla, Najafgarh, Dwarka and several other areas. Some vehicles were also damaged in places like Janakpuri, where a tree fell on a van. According to NDMC, complaints about trees and branches hit by the squall between 6.15pm and 6.45pm were reported from Hanuman Road, Jor Bagh, Mohan Singh Place, Gurdwara Rakabganj, Sardar Patel Marg and Mother Teresa Crescent. MCD received seven complaints about trees knocked down by the strong winds in Shahdara, Kalkaji, Sultanpur and Mangolpuri.
According to the India Meteorological Department, the wind speed touched 84kmph in south-west Delhi, 74kmph at Indira Gandhi International Airport, 70kmph at Pragati Maidan, 69kmph at Lodhi Road, 56kmph at Safdarjung and 50kmph at Pitampura and Jafarpur. The weather stations logged 5mm of rainfall over Narela and 2.5mm at Pitampura.
The thunderstorm brought the maximum temperature down by over four degrees Celsius. The good news: IMD expects the respite to continue on Saturday too. At the base weather station at Safdarjung, the maximum temperature recorded on Friday was 35.8 degrees Celsius, normal for the season, against 39.6 degrees a day earlier. The minimum temperature was 22.8 degrees Celsius, two above normal, against 25.9 degrees on Thursday.
A Met official said that temperatures fell suddenly in the 30 minutes after 6.15pm. At Lodhi Road, for example, the mercury dropped from 31 degrees Celsius to 24 degrees.
IMD expects the maximum temperature on Saturday to hover at 34-36 degrees Celsius and increase to 37-39 degrees Celsius on Sunday. Saturday may also see strong winds and light rain. On Friday, while the city was warm and skies were clear until late morning, the winds started picking up towards the afternoon when the skies had turned cloudy. The dust-raising winds became stronger from late afternoon, peaking after 6.15pm.
“The thunderstorm was accompanied by a dust storm, which brought the visibility down from 3,500 metres at 6pm to 500 metres around 6.30pm,” informed RK Jenamani, senior scientist, IMD. According to the weather scientists, the thunderstorm and the strong winds were the results of a western disturbance in which moist winds met dry winds.
“Due to the western disturbance, there were dry winds while at the lower level there was moisture coming from the Arabian Sea. This led to the formation of thunderstorm activity stretching from Rajasthan to Delhi via Haryana,” said a Met official. “Due to the interaction of lower-level moisture and mid-level dry air, a thunderstorm was formed, which, in turn, is highly favourable for strong winds. Now the western disturbance is moving ahead, and the condition will no longer be favourable for thunderstorm activity from Saturday onwards.”
Meanwhile, officials of power distribution company BSES said that the thunderstorm led to instances of power disruptions in some areas, primarily due to trees and branches falling on electricity cables. “BSES operations and maintenance teams were on high alert, and the quick response teams were pressed into service. In most cases, power supply was restored quickly. However, it took a little longer than usual to restore electricity in some areas as the safety of the residents is paramount for us,” said an official.
Localised disruptions were reported in some parts of north Delhi after broken branches of trees and other objects fell on electrical lines. Parts of Narela, Bawana, Badli and Mangolpuri were affected. There were some disruptions also in high-tension and low-tension networks. “Our teams were immediately mobilised to address the situation,” claimed an official of Tata Power-DDL.
During the stormy condition, a gantry located on the Dwarka Expressway in Gurgaon collapsed, hitting a vehicle in transit. There were no major injuries to the occupant of the car, which too didn’t suffer any major damages. Emergency response teams were deployed and the gantry was removed from the expressway. Traffic has since been restored. The reasons for the collapse are being investigated.
