Heavy rains, hailstorm lash parts of Delhi

New Delhi: Heavy rain and hailstorm pummelled Delhi on Saturday afternoon, creating a new record of precipitation in March.

The intense showers led to a drop in the mercury and heavy waterlogging in several areas, throwing traffic into haywire.

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for Delhi, has recorded 101.9 mm of rainfall in March so far, the highest ever in Delhi, said Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the Regional Forecasting Centre of the India Meteorological Department.

The rainfall was 97.4 mm in March 2015, 61.6 mm in March 2007 and 36.5 mm in March 1995.

On Saturday, people shared pictures and videos on social media of flooded streets and rooftops covered in a blanket of hail from various parts of Delhi and surrounding areas.

The Central Pollution Control Board's data showed the rains brought the pollution levels down to the moderate category. The overall air quality index stood at 108 at 4 pm.

The IMD said the weather station at Safdarjung recorded 37 mm of rainfall on Saturday, the second highest in a day in March after 56.8 mm on March 2, 2015. The Lodhi Road Observatory received 47.6 mm of rain till 5.30 pm.

Srivastava said Delhi witnessed rain on the nights of Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, too, under the influence of an active western disturbance. The weather system is expected to withdraw Saturday night onwards.

So far, Delhi has received rains on nine days this month, the scientist said.

The maximum temperature was 24.7 degrees Celsius, around four notches less than the previous day.

The weather from Sunday is predicted to be dry and the maximum temperature are expected to touch the 30 degrees-Celsius mark by Wednesday.