Light rain, thundershowers cool Delhi, mercury drops to 33.2 deg C

New Delhi, Jun 24 (UNI) Light rains and thunderstorms today hit Delhi, bringing down the mercury in the capital city and bringing much relief from the sultry weather of the past few days.

The light rains, which occured in the form of short bursts of heavy showers early in the morning and later in the afternoon, and cool westerly winds led to a drop in maximum temperature in the city, from 36.8 degrees Celsius yesterday, to 33.2 degree celsius, six degrees below normal.

The rains broke a three-day lull in rainfall in Delhi.

A total of 1.2 mm rain was recorded till 0830 hours this morning while 0.2 mm rainfall was recorded between 0830 hours and 1730 hours.

Earlier, in the morning, the minimum temperature was recorded two degrees below normal at 26.8 degrees.

The coolness in the air is likely to persist for another day or two with weathermen forcasting more rain and thundershowers in next 24 hours.

Also, Delhi could witness bountiful rainfall by the weekend with weathermen forecasting increase in rainfall in Delhi and other parts of Northwest India after three days.

''Numerical Weather Prediction models suggest increase in rainfall along the west coast and Northwest India after 3 days,'' the weather office said.

The Met office has forecast a generally cloudy sky in Delhi in the next 24 hours with one or two spells of rain and thundershowers.

UNI AR AM HT1919