Rain in Delhi brings temporary relief from heat and humidity

Western Disturbances are cyclonic storms originating over the Mediterranean that affect the weather in Northwest and North India. Cyclonic circulations are wind systems caused by a low pressure area, which – because of the pressure difference as compared to nearby areas – pulls moist air and results in overcast conditions and rainfall.

On Friday, the maximum temperature at the Safdarjung weather station, which is representative of the city, was 39.5 degrees Celsius, a degree below normal for this time of the year. The minimum temperature was one degree below the normal at 26.1 degrees Celsius.

Delhi is yet to see a single heatwave this summer so far, which is unusual. The city saw rain almost every week in May, with the overall rainfall for the month (144.8 mm) recorded as the highest since 2008, when 165 mm of rain was recorded.

Even though the day temperature remained below the 40-degree mark, the “feel” was closer to 42-43 degrees Celsius owing to high humidity. As per IMD, the “feel-like” temperature of a region is how hot or cold the human body feels as opposed to the actual temperature recordings.

At the Palam observatory, the maximum temperature was 38.4 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal, while the minimum temperature was 26.2 degrees Celsius. The relative humidity recorded 5:30pm was 93%.

Met officials said the wind speeds in Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida went up to 60 kmph in the evening.

The IMD forecast said strong winds and rain are likely to continue till late Friday, but it was unlikely to reduce the temperature on Saturday.

“The thunderstorm is likely to stay only till Friday. We are also seeing a possibility of another spell of rain around June 11-12, but the situation will be clearer next week,” Srivastava said.