Several flights diverted at IGI due to rain and hailstorm in Delhi-NCR- Check deatails

Image credit: ANI

New Delhi: Sevreal flights were delayed and diverted after a hailstorm and a bout of rain in parts of Delhi on Wednesday (May 4). Due to rainy weather conditions in Delhi-NCR, three flights were diverted to Jaipur, Rajasthan.

According to ANI, two domestic and one international flight were diverted and several other flights were delayed on Wednesday evening at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi due to rain and followed by strong winds.

According to airport sources, the sudden change in weather impacted the flight operations at IGI. At least three flights including an International flight are being diverted to Jaipur airport, reported ANI.

"All the diversions happened between 5.55 pm to 6.20 pm as the weather was bad and safe landing was not possible," he said. Both flights from Sharjah to Delhi and flight from Mumbai to Delhi were diverted to Jaipur, he told ANI.

#WATCH Rain lashes parts of Delhi, calming down the temperatures as it gives much-needed respite to people amid scorching heat

(Visuals from North Avenue) pic.twitter.com/zNn1ilBLif

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2022

Delhi rains: Hailstorm and downpour brings respite from heatwave

The rain spell in the national capital and vicinal areas provided a much-needed respite from the brutal heatwave. As per a PTI report, the impact will linger for another day. The temperature will start rising from Friday with heatwave conditions returning by Sunday, weather forecasters said.

The strong winds, rain and hailstorm brought the temperature down from 37 degrees Celsius at 4 pm to 31 degrees Celsius at 6 pm in Delhi.

People in Rohini, Pitampura, Najafgarh, Ashok Vihar and Paschim Vihar reported hailstorm along with rain and winds gusting up to 50 kmph.

Parts of Punjab, Haryana, north Rajasthan, and west and central Uttar Pradesh also witnessed hailstorms and light rainfall accompanied by gusty winds, they said, reported PTI.

"Hailstorms and rain occurred at a few places in Delhi while cloudy skies persisted over most parts of the city which pulled the mercury down by a few notches in the evening," said Mahesh Palawat, Vice President (Meteorology and Climate Change), Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency. This type of weather is not unusual in April and May, he said.

The India Meteorological Department said a partly cloudy sky is predicted over the capital for the next two days.
The mercury is set to rise by four to five notches over the next six days. However, no heatwave is predicted until May 8, an IMD official said.

A heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius and at least 4.5 notches above normal.

A severe heatwave is declared if the departure from normal temperature is more than 6.4 notches, according to the IMD.

Based on absolute recorded temperatures, a heatwave is declared when an area logs a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius. A severe heatwave is declared if the maximum temperature crosses the 47-degrees Celsius mark.

With scanty rains owing to feeble western disturbances, Delhi had recorded its second hottest April this year since 1951 with a monthly average maximum temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius. The city's normal monthly average temperature in April is 36.30 degrees Celsius.