Rain brings cool climes back in Delhi, mercury drops to 22.5 deg C

New Delhi, Mar 10 (UNI) A fresh spell of rainfall in the capital, coupled with cool breeze, brought about a sudden turnaround in the weather in Delhi, sending the mercury plummeting to 22.5 Degree Celsius, the lowest in the last over a month.

The rainfall, accompanied by lightning and thundershowers in several areas, brought a sharp relief to the people of Delhi from the scorching weather that the capital has been experiencing since the beginning of February.

About 1.2 mm of rainfall was recorded in the capital till 1730 hours, the weather office said.

It was a heavy overcast sky that welcomed Delhiites this morning with thick clouds hovering over the skyline for the third day in succession. The clouds, accompanied by a brisk breeze, brought in tremendous coolness in the air, reminding many Delhiites of the days of Winter.

Then, at around 1300 hours, a slight drizzle sent the Delhiites looking for shelter. The showers continued till 1700 hours.

Weathermen said the rainfall and coolness in the weather are direct offshoot of an upper air cyclonic storm originating from areas in Rajasthan. This coupled with north-westerly winds resulted in a sharp drop in maximum temperature, from 34 degrees on Wednesday, to 29.7 degrees Celsius yesterday and further to 22.5 degree c today, nearly five degrees C below normal.

In fact, the turnaround in weather had began on Wednesday evening when a thick cloud cover enveloped the skyline resulting in a sudden burst of rainfall and hailstorms. A total of 3.1 mm rainfall was recorded till yesterday.

The next few days could witness another spell of rain with the weather office predicting a generally cloudy sky and thundershowers during the next 24 hours. The met office has also predicted a fall in minimum temperature tomorrow to 17 degrees C, from 19 deg C today.

The BBC has also forecast heavy showers in the capital tomorrow.

It has also forecast a drop in minimum temperature to 13 degree C on March 14, the Holi day, which normally heralds the onset of summer.

The upper air movement has also led to high altitude areas in Himachal Pradesh experienced fresh snowfall while certain areas in Punjab and Haryana had rain during the past 24 hours.

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