Cold winds and rain swept through Delhi on Sunday, with the maximum temperature dipping to 17.2 degrees Celsius, five degrees below what is normal for this time of the year. An intense western disturbance over Afghanistan and the neighbouring area is the reason behind the overcast conditions and rain in and around the city, officials at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Rain gauges recorded 3.3 mm of rain in the afternoon. More is expected on Monday. The Western Disturbance, IMD officials said, is likely to cause “light/moderate rainfall/snowfall at most places with isolated heavy falls over western Himalayan region during the next two days; light/moderate rainfall at some/many places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan during the same period. Isolated very light rainfall/drizzle would also occur over Delhi on Sunday and Monday morning”. Delhi usually gets around 17 mm of rain in January. This, however, is the first rainfall of the winter season, which has been among the driest in the past decade. After touching 10 degrees Celsius last week, morning temperatures in Delhi dipped again, with the minimum temperature on Sunday recorded as 6.4 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal. Temperatures on Monday, though, are expected to be higher — between 10 and 20 degrees Celsius. "Isolated hailstorms may occur over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan today, and over Uttarakhand on Sunday and Monday. Strong surface winds of 20-30 kmph may also occur over northwest India during the next two days,” the IMD said.
