NEW DELHI: Eleven Delhi-bound flights were diverted to Lucknow and Jaipur due to a severe thunderstorm over parts of Haryana on Monday, officials said, adding the capital recorded heavy rains in the evening.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an ‘orange’ alert for Monday, however, it only rained towards the evening, thus the net rainfall couldn’t be recorded, weather officials said. According to analysts, the current weather conditions that caused showers will start weakening, thereby reducing the intensity of rains from Tuesday onwards.“There was no rain till 5.30 pm on Monday, however, later in the evening, several areas of the city recorded a high-intensity rain. Since the current weather activity will start weakening by Tuesday, we expect very light rain or drizzle. However, since there will be cloudy conditions for some days, the daytime temperature will not rise substantially or suddenly,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, senior weather scientist, IMD.At Palam, the wind speed was 25 kmph, which gusted or occasionally reached 45 kmph as an effect of thunderstorms, he added.Of the eleven flights that were diverted, eight were rerouted to Jaipur and three to Lucknow between 5pm and 5.30pm. Some flights were also delayed.The weather scientists explained the reason behind the diversion as a “squall line”. “Two cloud masses had merged over Jhajjar leading to severe thunderstorms, which impacted aviation severely. It is called a squall line. The impact was between 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm and the maximum wind speed in the Palam area was 45 kmph. In such instances, aircraft are diverted for safety,” said senior weather scientist RK Jenamani.Meanwhile, the maximum temperature on Monday was recorded at 27.1 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal against 28 degrees Celsius a day earlier. The minimum temperature was recorded at 17.4 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal against 15.4 degrees Celsius a day earlier.The maximum and minimum temperatures on Tuesday are likely to hover around 26 and 16 degrees Celsius respectively, with a possibility of very light rain.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/rain-brings-mercury-down-affects-flights/articleshow/98830293.cms