The weather across Delhi and the surrounding NCR has shifted drastically overnight as thunderstorms brought strong gusty winds with some light rain that created a sudden chill, similar to winter. After experiencing a warming trend for most of the past two weeks indicating possible early spring/summer, residents woke to thunderstorms and cooler weather on Friday.
This recent downpour has officially made the current month the wettest March the capital has seen in three years, with an average rainfall of 9.4 mm already recorded. Although this is a notable change from the dry heat of the past weeks, it is still substantially lower than the 50.4 mm of precipitation that occurred in the particularly damp month of March in 2023. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for the remainder of the day, predicting further spells of light to moderate rain and lightning, along with wind speeds of up to 50 kmph.
The cooling effect has been immediate. Minimum temperatures have tumbled to 18°C, while the maximum is expected to hover between 23°C and 25°C— a far cry from the 36.8°C recorded on March 11, which was eight degrees above the seasonal norm. Meteorologists attribute the dramatic shift to an exceptionally active and structurally unusual Western Disturbance currently moving across northwest India. Dr Pradeep, a climate scientist, noted that the system features a rare, straight-line trough spanning thousands of kilometres, a formation capable of generating particularly intense thunderclouds.
While the rain has provided a welcome respite from the unseasonably high temperatures seen earlier in the month — when the heat crossed the 35°C mark as early as 7 March — the chill is expected to be short-lived. According to the IMD’s seven-day outlook, the skies are likely to clear following Friday’s activity, with temperatures predicted to climb steadily back towards 34°C by March 25.
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