Delhi weather: IMD's yellow alert till Tuesday - How ‘mix of factors’ is keeping June heat away

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Delhi on Monday and Tuesday. The forecast calls for a partly cloudy sky, light rain, thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds. Wind speeds may reach 40–50 kmph, and during thunderstorms, they could temporarily go up to 60 kmph.

On Sunday evening, parts of Delhi-NCR were hit by powerful thunderstorms. Winds close to 100 kmph swept across the region, causing disruptions. Delhi's main weather station at Safdarjung recorded wind gusts up to 80 kmph along with thunderstorm squalls. Heavy rain was reported in several areas, The Indian Express reported.

Flight disruptions due to bad weather

The severe weather affected flight operations at Delhi Airport. A total of 14 flights were diverted between 4.30 pm and 6.10 pm on Sunday. These included two flights each to Chandigarh and Amritsar, seven to Jaipur, and one each to Ahmedabad, Dehradun, and Lucknow.

According to the airport officials, quoted by Hindustan Times, the diversions were caused by strong wind shear, which makes it unsafe for planes to land or take off. Lightning and thunder also impacted operations.

An IndiGo flight from Raipur to Delhi (Flight 6E 6313) faced turbulence due to a dust storm just before landing. The pilot had to abort the landing and climb back up. The aircraft made several loops in the air before landing safely. The pilot later informed passengers that wind speeds had reached 80 kmph, the HT report said.

Why the sudden storm happened

The IMD explained that a moving cloud cluster from the east-southeast triggered the weather disturbance over southern Delhi. Winds reached 30–40 kmph, gusting up to 50 kmph in just 1–2 hours.

The sudden change in weather was caused by a mix of factors, which include, a western disturbance as a cyclonic system over north Pakistan, another cyclonic circulation over Haryana, and continuous moisture inflow from the Arabian Sea. These systems, along with other atmospheric factors, led to the storm, Times Now reported.

With the weather department issuing a yellow alert on Monday and Tuesday, light rainfall is also expected on Wednesday, June 4, though no alert has been issued. The minimum temperature may fall to 24 degrees Celsius, while the maximum could be around 35 degrees Celsius, both below normal for this time of year.

Record rainfall in May

Delhi recorded 186.4 mm of rainfall in May, the highest ever for the month, compared to the usual 30.1 mm. However, the rain helped improve air quality. On Sunday at 4 pm, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was 197 (“moderate”), better than 241 (“poor”) a day earlier. The AQI is expected to remain “moderate” until June 4, HT reported.c