The Hindu : New Delhi News : Storm catches Delhi by surprise

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Saturday, Oct 23, 2010
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New Delhi

Storm catches Delhi by surprise

Staff Reporter

Weatherman attributes it to western disturbances centred round J&K

After the storm: A broken tree branch lying on a road after heavy winds and sudden downpour lashed the Capital on Friday afternoon.

NEW DELHI: Heavy rain and gusty winds, which the weatherman attributed to a “western disturbance”, lashed the Capital on Friday just when people were preparing to leave for their homes from offices.

For 30 minutes on Friday afternoon, the Capital was witness to nature in all its fury. At 4-30 p.m., dark clouds suddenly appeared from nowhere and completely eclipsed the sun.

Car drivers turned on their headlights, puzzled by the sudden onset of darkness. From buildings, people watched the skies with fascination. By 5-15 p.m., the rain was over and the sun reappeared. Specks of grey clouds were all that remained in a dull-looking sky.

Bina Shah, a doctor proceeding home at 5 p.m. by Tolstoy Marg, said “I got scared and stopped my car. I could not even see the pavement properly.”

Businessman Anant Lal said he was overawed by the view of the storm from his fifth floor office. “From gloomy to dark to hazy to wet…it was happening quickly. I had to stop working and watched this. Such sights are rare in Delhi.”

The meteorological station at Safdarjung attributed the weather to western disturbances centred around Jammu and Kashmir that had caused moisture intrusion into the Capital over the past two days.

“The haze and mist observed in the last two days was because of this phenomenon. The activity was also visible over other parts of North-Western India,” said Dr. A.P. Tyagi, director-general of the Met Department.

The Safdarjung station recorded 6 mm of rainfall during the half-hour period. The relative humidity climbed to 86 per cent and the mercury dipped perceptibly by Friday evening.

The forecast for Saturday is partly cloudy skies with the possibility of rain or thundershowers. Maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be around 32 degrees Celsius and 21 degrees Celsius respectively on Saturday.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi control room received a number of complaints regarding water-logging and uprooting of trees. Six flights scheduled to land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were diverted to Jaipur.

Traffic was affected on Najafgarh Road from Tilak Nagar to Uttam Nagar due to uprooting of a tree. Branches of trees fell at Gurdwara Rakabganj and at Deepali Chowk on Outer Ring Road obstructing traffic. The Dhaula Kuan underpass was also water-logged.

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