Rain showers brief respite

The sky remained overcast all through Monday afternoon before the downpour came around 5.30 pm. But at 6 pm,a weather official at the airport said,“We have recorded zero rainfall.”

According to reports,it rained in Connaught Place,Pragati Maidan,ITO,India Gate and the New Delhi railway station,besides stray locations like Ashram in South Delhi. Some areas also experienced hail.

Shonali Pandey,a marketing executive with an MNC,said she was driving on Mathura Road in front of Pragati Maidan when the hails came down. “I rolled up the car windows initially for a few minutes but rolled them down the moment the hail was over. Finally,there was freshness in the breeze.”

The shower took the mercury down by three degrees,and by evening the maximum temperature went below 40 degrees — a first in nine days.

The showers came to Delhi after a gap of 44 days — the city had last recorded rain on March 5,when the Safdarjung Met office recorded traces of rainfall.

Officials at the India Meteorological Department predict a cocktail of good and bad for the city in the next three days: while showers are predicted,they will occur in the evening,which means the daytime temperature would continue to be sizzling.