Heavy rain hits Delhi airport, delays over 100 flights

As strong thunderstorms hit southern parts of Delhi, especially South West Delhi, as many as 100 flights were delayed and about 17 flights were diverted between 3.30 pm and 4.30 pm today, said a report. “17 flights were diverted at the IGI airport between 3:20 to 4:30 pm due to heavy rain and poor weather conditions. Several flights were also delayed during the period,” an airport official told Times of India. 
 
According to the IMD, the Palam observatory received 42.6mm of rainfall till 5:30 pm, but the Safdarjung area was not affected and received merely 1.2mm of rainfall. The met office has forecast that light to moderate showers may occur over the weekend. 
 
The weather office today in the morning stated a sunny morning in the national capital with the minimum temperature at 24.6 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season`s average, and predicted maximum temperature to hover around 34 degrees Celsius. The MeT also predicted light rains for the day ahead. 
 
"The sky will get generally cloudy with light or moderate rains expected during the day ahead," an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official reportedly said.
 
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) today predicted heavy to very heavy rains at some places in 22 states across the country and advised people take precautionary measures to avoid casualties.
 
The NDMA also issued warning about the possibility of strong winds with the speed of 25-35 kmph gusting to 45 kmph, hitting over interior Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand till Saturday.
 
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It has also stated that heavy to very heavy rains are likely to occur at isolated places in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Jharkhand, west Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal, east Rajasthan, Konkan, Goa, Vidarbha and Telangana, while quoting a bulletin from the India Meteorological Department.