Friday evening rain, dust storm bring relief in Delhi

A sudden change in weather brought welcome respite from the scorching heat in Delhi on Friday evening as light rain accompanied by gusts of dust-laden wind blew across the city lowering the temperature by as much as six degrees Celsius.

"There were reports of rain in some parts of the city in the evening. The scorching sun was covered by the clouds and the weather cooled around 5 p.m.," said an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official.

The official said the sudden weather change was a result of "local phenomenon due to convection clouds (CC) developments". The city experienced rain accompanied by dust storm.

The weather change bought the temperature down by 6.3 degrees to 35.6 degrees Celsius at 5.30 p.m., the Met office said adding that the observatory at the Delhi ridge recorded 3.5 mm of rain while elsewhere only sparse rain was recorded.

The maximum temperature settled at 41.9 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average, while the minimum was 28.4 degrees, normal for the season's average.

The weather office forecast a partly cloudy sky on Saturday with light rain and thunderstorm towards evening and night.

The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 39 and 28 degrees Celsius respectively.

The humidity on Friday oscillated between 60 and 39 per cent.

Thursday was hot and humid with the maximum at 41.1 degrees, two notches above the season's average, while the minimum was 30.4 degrees, three notches above the season's average.

--IANS

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