Rain causes traffic snarls, disruption in flights

Overcast skies and light rainfall all through Tuesday brought down the mercury in the national Capital, which recorded its coldest April day in three years.

The maximum temperature settled at 28.8 degrees Celsius, several notches below normal. The city had previously seen the maximum temperature drop to 28.4 degrees Celsius on April 1, 2023. The weather office has forecast thunderstorms accompanied by light to moderate rain for Wednesday, with cloudy skies likely to persist.

The downpour led to widespread waterlogging, turning major roads into slow-moving parking lots and impacting operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI).

Massive snarls were reported across the city. Busy intersections at ITO, Vikas Marg, Arya Samaj Road (Karol Bagh), Dhaula Kuan-Gurgaon Road, Delhi Cantt, Palam, Dwarka and routes between Noida and Delhi saw the cascading impact of the rain. Commuters were stuck for hours in many spots, with vehicles crawling through flooded stretches. Social media is full of frustrated posts about the chaos. No major accidents or casualties have been reported so far, but movement has been severely hampered.

Flight disruptions at Delhi Airport were reported as 15 flights diverted: 8 to Jaipur, 5 to Lucknow, and 2 to Chandigarh. Airport authorities issued an advisory urging passengers to contact their airlines for the latest updates, as operations were hit.  IndiGo: “Heavy downpour over Delhi… causing some temporary disruption to flight schedules… allow additional time… especially with traffic moving slower than usual.” Air India: Downpour “may impact flight operations”; check status and leave early.

SpiceJet: Bad weather is affecting all departures/arrivals; monitor flight status. If you’re heading to/from the airport tonight, check your airline app or website immediately and add extra buffer time for traffic. The weather is expected to ease later tonight, but thunderstorms could linger.

According to the India Meteorological Department data, between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm, Safdarjung recorded 3.0 mm rainfall, Lodhi Road also logged 3.0 mm, while Palam and Ridge recorded 2.1 mm each. Ayanagar recorded 2.0 mm of rainfall during the period.

The maximum temperature at Safdarjung was 28.8 degrees Celsius, six notches below normal, while Palam recorded 27.6 degrees Celsius, eight notches below normal. Lodhi Road logged 28.1 degrees Celsius, six notches below normal, Ridge 27.7 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal, and Ayanagar 27.8 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal. The minimum temperature at Safdarjung was 20.1 degrees Celsius, close to normal, while Palam recorded 19.6 degrees Celsius, marginally below normal.

Lodhi Road logged 18.6 degrees Celsius, marginally below normal, Ridge 17.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, and Ayanagar 18.1 degrees Celsius, one notch below normal. The minimum temperature on Wednesday is expected to settle at 17 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature at 28 degrees Celsius.