Rains break seven-decade record in Delhi

New Delhi: Heavy showers lashed the national capital breaking a seven-decade record for highest rainfall in a single day in February and triggering massive traffic jams due to waterlogging across the city on Tuesday.

The rain gauges measured 46 mm of rainfall from 8:30 AM yesterday till this morning. In total, Delhi received 57.1 mm of rainfall till 5:30 PM today. "Delhi received 46 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8:30 AM which is the highest rainfall in a single day in the month of February in the last 70 years," Met Department Director BP Yadav told PTI. According to Met figures, the city had received 104.1 mm of rainfall on February 21, 1942 which is the highest single-day rainfall in recorded history. On February 11, 2007, Delhi had received 40.4 mm of rainfall. The Met office said the city is likely to receive more rains in the next couple of days. The minimum temperature was recorded at 13.5 degrees, five notches above normal but the wind chill factor led to cold conditions. The maximum temperature was recorded at 18.6 degrees which is four degrees below normal. Heavy overnight rains, accompanied by thunderstorms, resulted in waterlogging in areas across the city and office goers and school students faced lot of inconvenience because of traffic jams. Vehicular movement was affected across the city including ITO, Vikas Marg, South Extension, Mahipalpur, Hari Nagar, IIT crossing to Adchini, Moti Bagh Yusuf Sarai Market and Munirka. Areas such as Badarpur border, Wazirpur industrial area, Ashok Vihar, Laxmi Nagar, Mahipalpur, ITO, Bhogal, Jungpura, Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, Dhaula Kuan, Janakpuri, Patel Nagar, Khajurikhas and Moolchand also witnessed heavy traffic snarls. The situation was compounded by non-functioning traffic lights in various areas. Waterlogging was reported from the carriageway from Naraina to Dhaula Kuan on Ring road, Najafgarh and Mehrauli-Badarpur road. The Met department said cloudy weather conditions are likely to continue for the next couple of days. It said minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to be around 12 and 19 degree celsius respectively tomorrow. PTI