Bhubaneswar, April 21: The hard-working sun decided to take a day off today and left all his work for the rain gods to handle.

After a short, but scintillating hailstorm on Tuesday, the rain gods smiled on the city again today with a heavy downpour.

The past couple of days haven’t seen a lot of sun, with clouds providing a reprieve from the punishing April heat.

Windy and rainy Sunday was pleasing, to say the least, even for those caught on the roads in the sudden downpour.

When it was just a drizzle, people were seen enjoying getting wet.

But when the drizzle gave way to heavy rain, the points of celebration were the passages under flyovers, under the eaves of roadside shops, and in the shade of banyan trees, where passers-by gathered to escape getting drenched.

It was neither today’s IPL match nor the Centre’s apathy towards the state that was the hot topic of discussion everywhere.

“We were on our way to Bhubaneswar from Kendrapada on a motorcycle. The weather had been surprisingly pleasant since morning and when it started raining in the afternoon, we did not mind enjoying the drizzle. But soon, the wind became quite strong and we joined the happy gathering of at least 150 people beneath an under-construction flyover at Jagatpur. It was fun to see heavy rain in April,” said Gajanan Mohapatra, a commuter.

This relief from heat might not be long-lasting though. The weatherman forecasts that sunny weather will return to the city in four to five days. The city today received a rainfall of 36.7mm, the highest in all other parts of the state, due to the influence of a cyclonic circulation and a trough line passing over the state.

The rainfall has also led to a significant decrease of nearly 7 degree Celsius in the maximum temperature of the city, which hovered around the 40 degree Celsius mark on April 17. The city today recorded a maximum temperature of a mild 33.6 degree Celsius.

Sources at the regional meteorological centre in Bhubaneswar said that the trough line was likely to be cleared from the state from Tuesday, which would subsequently lead to an increase in the maximum temperature.

“There’s a chance of rain in the next two days. But, by that time the soil will be wet, which will result in the sun’s rays getting absorbed. So, the temperature is likely to increase from Wednesday onwards. The maximum temperature might reach the 40 degrees Celsius mark from April 26 or 27,” said director of the meteorological centre S.C. Sahu.

The heavy rainfall and the strong winds in and around the city, however, led to uprooting of some old trees in the city.

Statistics available with the meteorological centre revealed that this was the third highest rainfall received by the city for the month of April in the past decade.

The maximum rainfall in the city in a single day in April stands at 44.5mm on April 11 last year, followed by 42.6mm on April 5, 2008.