Delhi: Pre-monsoon showers bring mercury down, waterlogging in some areas
Pulling down the temperature by nearly 6 degrees-Celsius, heavy pre-monsoon showers hit Delhi-NCR today morning, as per IMD's predictions. For the past one week, the national capital had been reeling under extreme heat, with average temperature hovering around 43-45 degrees. The IMD had also forecast monsoon from June 29, but keeping up with a two-year tradition, it might start on July 2, experts say.
Easterly winds bringing moisture from Bay of Bengal to Delhi
The easterly winds that bring moisture from Bay of Bengal are at play and so, "the main rainfall activity will start from Wednesday," said Kuldeep Srivastava, Senior Scientist, Delhi forecasting center. "There's a western disturbance over Pakistan at the moment. It's expected to interact with monsoon system on June 27 and 28 and bring heavy rainfall," said DS Pai, Senior Scientist, IMD Pune.
Waterlogged stretches: Gurgaon Road-Parade Road, Karol Bagh-Dhaula Kuan, and Munirka-RTR
According to IMD, Delhi and other surrounding regions will remain cool today, with maximum temperature expected to be around 32 degrees, 5 degrees below normal. Apart from Delhi, Faridabad and parts of Noida witnessed rainfall today. Unsurprisingly, some areas in Delhi were submerged in water. Delhi Traffic Police has asked commuters to avoid waterlogged stretches like Gurgaon Road-Parade Road, Karol Bagh-Dhaula Kuan, and Munirka-RTR.
Not all's bad: Air quality improved from "poor" to "moderate"
Yesterday, Noida, Greater Noida and Aya Nagar in South Delhi received light rain. That improved the air quality from "poor" to "moderate" and reduced pollution levels. For Noida, the air quality index reduced from 284, recorded on Monday, to 166 on Tuesday.
