Delhi-NCR sees relief from heat as rain lashes parts of city; orange alert issued

Delhi-NCR sees relief from heat as rain lashes parts of city; orange alert issued

Parts of Delhi and NCR, including Noida, Ghaziabad, and Gurugram, received a sudden change in weather on Tuesday afternoon, offering a much-needed break from the intense heat and humidity.

Strong dust winds started blowing across several areas around 4 PM today, with Gurugram seeing storm-like conditions.

According to the IMD's forecast for Tuesday, rain and thunderstorms, along with gusty winds, are expected to hit Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) in the next couple of hours.

An orange alert has been issued for the city, with wind speeds between 40 and 60 km/h expected in many areas.

"Light to moderate rain/moderate thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds (speed 40–60 kmph) are very likely to occur at most places over Central, East, New Delhi, North, North-East, North-West, Shahdara, South, South-East, South-West, and West Delhi," the India Meteorological Department (IMD)'s latest forecast said.

The weather offers some relief from the heat in Delhi, where the minimum temperature has gone up significantly in the last 24 hours. The IMD had already warned that the heat will keep increasing, with temperatures expected to reach 42°C in the next three days, bringing back very hot weather.

On Monday, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 38.3°C, which was 1.2 degree Celsius lower than usual, and a minimum of 24.4 degree Celsius, also 1.1 degree Celsius below average. Humidity levels varied throughout the day, ranging from 64% to 30%.

The Ridge area had the highest daytime temperature at 39.7 degree Celsius, while Pitampura experienced the warmest night, with a minimum temperature of 27.1 degree Celsius.