Heavy rain mellows Delhi's temp; waterlogging at many areas

New Delhi, May 26 (UNI) After a dry and sunny weekend, heavy rains lashed the capital this morning, making the city clime cooler but unwarranted waterlogging and traffic jams at certain areas caught Delhiites unawares.

The rains, accompanied by a strong thunderstorm blowing at a speed of 60 kmph, brought down the mercury by several degrees Celsius.

The maximum dropped sharply, from 35.8 degrees Celsius yesterday, to 33.4 degrees C, eight degrees below normal.

The minimum was also recorded three degrees below normal at 24.5 degrees.

A total of 36.4 mm rain was recorded till 1430 hrs.

While bringing down the mercury in the city, the rain and thunderstorms also threw life in the city out of gear.

The heavy rain, which hit the city suddenly at around 0900 hrs, caught Delhiites unawares, causing severe waterlogging and heavy traffic jams in many areas.

Complaints of waterlogging were recieved from areas like Palam, Model Town and Lajpat Nagar while severe traffic jams were witnessed at crossings like Azadpur, ITO, South extension and Ashram Chowk.

The weatherman said the fresh spell of rain and thundershowers could be due to the influence of a low tropospheric cyclonic circulation over Haryana and neighbourhood.

''Under the influence of a low tropospheric cyclonic circulation over Haryana and neighbourhood and moisture incursion from Arabian Sea, isolated to scattered rain and thundershowers accompanied with thundersquall are likely over Northwest India during the next 2-3 days,'' the weathermen said.

They have also forecast an isolated thundersquall over Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and western Uttar Pradesh during the next 48 hours.

The Met office have predicted a partly cloudy sky in the capital during the next 24 hours with rain and thundershowers in some areas accompanied by a squall.

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