After sluggish start to monsoon, rain lashes Delhi-NCR, showers likely today

Indian Express

09-07-2025

After playing hide and seek for 11 days — since its onset on June 29 — the monsoon finally showed its hand in Delhi on Wednesday evening.
Dark clouds, which loomed over the Capital for most of the day, gave way to showers in the evening, bringing much-needed relief to the residents and causing waterlogging and traffic disruptions in several areas. Rain also lashed National Capital Region (NCR) cities like Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, and Faridabad, among others.
The rain came as a respite, especially after Delhi witnessed a sluggish start to the monsoon in July. Until Wednesday, 18.3 mm of rainfall had been recorded at Safdarjung – considered to be Delhi's base observatory – against a long period average (LPA) of 204.7 mm for the month.
The skies had turned a brooding grey well before the downpour, with the humidity level touching 81%. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) went on to sound a red alert at 6.30 pm — until then, the city was under an orange alert — while also issuing a public advisory, asking residents to stay indoors. On the impact expected, it warned of localised flooding and electrocution hazards.
At 8.30 pm again, the IMD issued another red alert — indicating the need to stay vigilant and take action — for Northeast and Southwest NCR for two hours, with a forecast of moderate to heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds. The rest of the Delhi-NCR remained under a orange alert, indicating the need to be prepared.
'An eastward-moving cloud cluster is likely to cause moderate rainfall at most places with heavy rainfall at isolated locations, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and strong winds gusting up to 50 kmph during the next two hours,' an IMD official had said in the evening.
Waterlogging and traffic disruptions were reported from several parts of the city, including Nehru Place, Aurobindo Marg, Kailash Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Siri Fort Road, the Chirag Delhi flyover, Outer Ring Road, G K Marg, Rail Bhawan, Akshardham, Ashram, ITO, Pul Prahladpur, M B Road, M G Road, Old Rohtak Road, Shadipur, Madhuban Chowk and National Highway 8.
Between 5.30 pm and 8.30 pm, the Najafgarh weather station recorded 60 mm of rainfall, followed by Aya Nagar (50.5 mm), Pragati Maidan (37 mm), North Campus (22 mm), Pusa (30 mm), Palam (14.4 mm), IGNOU (11.5 mm), Janakpuri (4 mm), Naraina (6.5 mm) and Lodhi Road (1.5 mm).
Meanwhile, the primary weather station at Safdarjung recorded just 1.4 mm of rainfall.
In the Capital, the maximum temperature settled at 35.6 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 26.4 degrees, both a notch below normal, on Wednesday.
The forecast for Thursday indicates a generally cloudy sky with moderate rain.
Delhi's air quality index (AQI) remained in the satisfactory category at 81, as per Central Pollution Control Board data.