Rain returned to several parts of Delhi on Monday. Showers were reported from areas including Kartavya Path and Feroze Shah Road, after the national capital saw a brief break in monsoon activity.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for thunderstorm and lightning across large parts of Delhi-NCR on August 10. The warning covers Ghaziabad, Shahdara, North East Delhi, South East Delhi, Gautam Buddh Nagar, South West Delhi, North West Delhi, North Delhi, East Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, New Delhi and Central Delhi.
Gurugram and Faridabad are under a green alert.
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Traffic congestion was reported on several key routes, including Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Wazirabad Road, Patel Road, Rohtak Road, Shankar Road, Kirti Nagar, the Delhi-Jaipur Highway, Peeragarhi and Shaheen Bagh.
Traffic also moved slowly on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway following heavy rainfall.
On National Highway 48 near Shankar Vihar, vehicles were seen stuck in long queues. The stretch between Gurugram and Dhaula Kuan also witnessed a traffic jam stretching several kilometres.
Continuous rainfall led to severe waterlogging in Chhatarpur Farm, Mehram Nagar near Terminal 1, Sangam Vihar and Kapashera border, disrupting traffic movement.
Water accumulation was also reported outside Safdarjung Hospital.
In Shakarpur and Mandawali in East Delhi, overflowing drains, submerged potholes and waterlogged roads created problems for commuters and e-rickshaw drivers.
Rain returns after brief monsoon break
The showers came after Delhi experienced a short break in rainfall as the monsoon trough shifted away from the region. The IMD’s latest bulletin said the monsoon trough at mean sea level is currently running through parts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand before extending towards the Bay of Bengal.
The weather department has forecast light to moderate rain in Delhi on Monday, with one or two spells possible through the day. The maximum temperature is expected to remain around 34-36°C, while the minimum was recorded at 27.6°C at Safdarjung.
The IMD’s observations showed that Safdarjung recorded no rain in the 24 hours ending 8.30am on Monday, before showers returned later in the day.
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Delhi already near monthly rainfall mark
The fresh showers come after a particularly wet start to August. Delhi received rain every day from August 4 to August 8, recording 229.5mm during the month so far, more than 98% of its normal August rainfall of 233.1mm, HT reported earlier.
With more rain forecast, the capital is expected to cross its normal monthly rainfall mark soon.
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Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, recorded 225.7mm between 8.30am on August 1 and 8.30am on August 8, making it the wettest first week of August at the station since at least 2011.
What IMD has forecast ahead
The IMD has forecast rain activity to continue over the coming days, although temperatures are likely to remain relatively high in the immediate term. The latest bulletin says there is no significant change in maximum temperatures expected over the next seven days.
Earlier, the weather department had forecast very light to light rain for Wednesday and Thursday, with further spells expected later in the week.
The IMD classifies rainfall of 0.1-15.5mm as light, 15.6-64.4mm as moderate, 64.5-115.5mm as heavy and 115.6-204.4mm as very heavy.
