Delhi traffic snarls after heavy rainfall

New Delhi, May 23 (PTI) Delhiites woke up to thunderstorm and rains on Monday morning that brought a much-needed respite from the sweltering heat as the city recorded a minimum temperature of 18 degrees Celsius.

Trees got uprooted in some parts of the national capital and traffic snarls were reported in various stretches, including ITO, DND and near AIIMS, on the first working day of the week.

According to the weather department, this was the first moderate-intensity storm of this season.

Summer is considered to start from March 1. "Normally between March and May thunderstorms occur for 12 to 14 days. But this season saw only four to five thunderstorms and that too mostly dry ones," the department said.

The thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and rain led to a drastic fall in the surface temperature on Monday. Between 5.40 am and 7 am, the temperature plummeted by 11 notches from 29 degrees Celsius to 18 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature at 8.30 am was recorded at 17.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season's average, while 12mm of rainfall was recorded till 8.30 am.

The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 37 degrees Celsius.

Delhi on Sunday recorded a maximum temperature of 39.3 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal, while the minimum temperature was 23.1 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season's average.