Rain brings mercury down in Delhi

Light to moderate rain lashed the national capital on Friday, bringing the mercury several notches below normal. Strong winds swept across the city and a few areas reported hailstorm. The Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 3.5 mm rainfall and a maximum of 37 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, officials said.

The Palam observatory recorded 3.1 mm rainfall and a maximum of 37.6 degrees Celsius. The weather stations at Lodhi Road and Aya Nagar recorded a maximum of 35.3 degrees and 36.7 degrees Celsius, respectively, the IMD said. Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the regional forecasting center of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said a fresh western disturbance and easterly winds at lower levels caused the change in the weather.

"Dust storm and thunder storm with winds gusting up to 60 kilometers per hour is likely over the Delhi-NCR region on Saturday," he said.