Delhi gets wettest March day in 100 years as freak storm blows over

NEW DELHI: The wet spell that started early Sunday morning in the city had turned into an unrelenting drencher a day later, becoming the wettest 24 hours the capital has seen in the month of March in 100 years — thanks to an unusually strong storm system that covered most of India.

The Safdarjung station recorded 56.8mm of rain in 24 hours ending Monday morning, a deluge by March standards when the average rain for the entire month is 13.5mm. There were even wetter spots in the capital, such as the Delhi ridge where 76.6mm was recorded.

The unseasonal downpour, predictably, caused chaos on the roads during rush hours. The steady Monday morning rain was particularly cruel to students sitting for their first Class XII board exams as long traffic jams were reported from several parts of the city.

The Met office said the weather would clear by Tuesday, when just stray light rain or an odd thundershower can be expected till noon. Temperatures are likely to be in the 13-22 degrees Celsius range.

The maximum temperature on Monday was five notches below normal at 22.1 degrees. Experts from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said such heavy and continuous rainfall in March is extremely unusual. Almost all parts of the country were affected by rain and thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday except Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The rain covered the NCR. Palam recorded 56.6mm, Lodhi Road 66mm, Ayanagar 42mm, Faridabad 45mm and Delhi University 64mm.

According to IMD experts, the rainfall was a result of a very strong western disturbance which went deep into central India and gathered moisture from the two seas, a rare occurrence for this time of the year.

A WD is a storm system that brings rain and snow to northwest India. "When it rains in northwestern India, it usually gathers moisture from the north Arabian sea. But this time, the WD was so strong that it gathered moisture up to south Arabian sea and even Bay of Bengal. This is very unusual and the entire country was in its grip," said B P Yadav, head of IMD's weather forecasting division.

There was rainfall in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telengana, Haryana, Punjab, Chhatisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Delhi NCR and others. It also affected Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Amritsar and Karnal recorded its all time highest rainfall record for 24 hours. "We haven't seen the historical data for other cities but the rain was indeed record-setting in many parts," added Yadav.

The WD is weakening gradually and moving east. It may cause more rain in the eastern states on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, rains will gradually cease in the plains but may continue in the hill states. "The day temperature in Delhi and rest of northwest India will rise by three to four degrees from Tuesday," another IMD official said.

Delhi, however, could experience more rain after Holi as experts see another WD coming in. This will form around March 8 but will not as strong as the current one. It is likely to bring rainfall only in some parts of northwest India.