Heavy rain and hailstorm pelted down on the national Capital and NCR resulting in pitch-dark afternoon on Thursday with motorists forced to switch on their headlights. Many netizens posted pictures of hailstorm and white sheet of hails on the social media.
Rain and thunderstorms affected flight operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport as 36 flights were diverted between 6 pm and 7 pm due to inclement weather. “Twenty-four domestic and 9 international flights, and one IAF’s flights were diverted. Nine flights were diverted to Jaipur, three Lucknow, three Amritsar, two Varanasi and one to Indore,” said spokespersons for the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the maximum temperature fluctuated between 18 degrees Celsius and 20 degrees Celsius while minimum temperature was recorded at 15 degrees Celsius.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted foggy days between February 8 and February 10 and said winter is not over yet as the weather forcaster predicted rain on February 12, 13.
It was a cloudy morning as light to moderate rain lashed parts of Delhi-NCR.
With humidity recorded at 89 pe cent, the air quality was “very poor” in morning hours of the day, however in the afternoon, air quality improved significantly as System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said overall quality index (AQI) of the NCR was recorded at 265.
“The sky will remain generally cloudy throughout the day with light to moderate rain or thunderstorm and hail likely in the later parts of the day as well,” IMD said.
At least 16 Delhi-bound trains were delayed by two to six hours due to fog and low visibility on Thursday. In the past 24 hours, the national Capital witnessed about 1 mm of rain.