Thunderstorm accompanied with heavy rain battered Delhi overnight, disrupting flight operations, uprooting trees and electricity poles, and causing waterlogging in several areas.
The India Meteorological Department said the city's primary weather station recorded winds gusting up to 82 kmph and 81.2 mm of rain in six hours -- between 11.30 pm and 5.30 am.
The IMD had issued a red alert for the region on Saturday night, forecasting light to moderate rain accompanied by a severe thunderstorm, lightning, hail, and squally winds of 60–100 km/hr.
Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here were disrupted due to inclement weather.
A source said that 49 flights, including 17 international flights, were diverted between 11:30 pm on Saturday and 4 am on Sunday due to bad weather.
In a post on X at 3.59 am, IndiGo said adverse weather conditions over Delhi had led to temporary disruptions in flight operations.
"While the weather is gradually easing, some airside congestion remains. We assure you that flight movements are steadily resuming as conditions permit," the airline said.
In another post at 5.54 am, it said, with clearer skies over Delhi, flight operations are back to normal.
According to information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com, many flights have been delayed and some cancelled at the airport, and the average delay was over 30 minutes for departures.
Several road stretches of the city, including Moti Bagh, Minto Road, Delhi Cantonment and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg were partially submerged, while trees and electricity poles were uprooted in several areas.
The IMD has urged people to avoid open spaces, not take shelter under trees, stay away from weak walls and unstable structures and not go near water bodies.
On Wednesday, a cloud mass had entered North Delhi and moved south-southeastwards, triggering a dust storm and strong winds. The winds blew at speeds of 50-60 kmph, gusting up to 70 kmph, accompanied by light rainfall earlier in the evening. Power disruptions were reported in several areas across the capital after the intense dust storm.
The rain and storm came a day after monsoon reached the Indian mainland in Kerala, a week ahead of the usual date and the earliest since 2009. Normally, the southwest monsoon makes its onset over Kerala by June 1 and covers the entire country by July 8. It starts retreating from northwest India around September 17 and withdraws completely by October 15.
Several parts of the national capital reported strong winds, with Palam recording gusts of 72 kmph, Pragati Maidan at 76 kmph, Jafarpur at 61 kmph, and IGNOU at 50 kmph.
After the heavy rain that accompanied the thunderstorm, Delhi's temperature dropped sharply between 1.15 am and 2.30 am.
At Safdarjung, the temperature fell from 31 degrees Celsius to 21 degrees Celsius, while at Palam it dropped from 29 degrees Celsius to 22 degrees Celsius.
Pusa saw a drop from 31.8 degrees Celsius to 20.5 degrees Celsius, Pragati Maidan from 31.4 degrees Celsius to 21.3 degrees Celsius, and Lodhi Road from 31 degrees Celsius to 22.3 degrees Celsius.
For Sunday, the weather department has forecast a thunderstorm with rain, with the maximum temperature expected to settle around 38 degrees Celsius.