The weatherman has predicted rain on Friday as a pleasant Thursday welcomed Delhiites and its adjoining areas were lashed with heavy rain pulling down the maximum temperature by a good five notches from the normal.
Thursday’s rains even pulled down this year’s monsoon deficit in Delhi, bringing it to 40 per cent. However, the downpour brought traffic to a standstill as several pockets across the national Capital had waterlogged roads. More rain is expected in the current month since the rain system is active in Northern India, the MeT Department said.
According to MeT Department officials, the day temperature was recorded at 29.1°C, five notches below the season’s average and seven degrees less from Wednesday’s maximum. The minimum temperature settled at 25.2°C. The Safdarjung observatory, which supplies the official reading for the city, recorded 15.2 mm rainfall till 5.30 pm, while lodhi Road observatory registered 18.3 mm. Until 8.30 in the morning the rain gauge measured a rainfall of 1.1 mm only. Showers measuring 50.4 mm occurred in areas under Ridge weather station, while the region covered by Palam and Ayanagar observatory received 0.3 mm rainfall. Ghaziabad, Noida and Gurgaon too witnessed heavy showers. Humidity in air fluctuated between 83 per cent and 92 per cent.
However, the hour-long rainfall left the city crawling at snail’s pace as traffic was thrown out of gear with waterlogging in several areas. Water logging resulting in bumper-to-bumper traffic was seen at Mahipalpur, Sanjay T-point, Boulevard Road (Mori Gate), Kashmere Gate, Kela Ghat, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg near Zakir Husain College, roundabout of Kamla Market and in front of Shastri Park Metro station. Other roads which witnessed heavy traffic and waterlogging were Tughlak Road, both carriageways of lala lajpat Rai Marg, roundabout GPO and Kali Bari Marg, Ring Road, Dharmpura, Seelampur flyover towards Shadara, Iron Bridge, Pul Prahladpur, Jakhira Flyover to Anand Prabat and lodhi Road. Moolchand toward lajpat Nagar, Barapullah and Ashram Chowk also had crawling traffic in the afternoon hours.
For Friday, the weatherman has predicted overcast conditions and rainfall for in some areas. “Skies will be generally cloudy. Rain or thundershowers may occur in some areas. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be at 31°C and 25°C, respectively,” said the weatherman.