Massive dust storm hits Delhi-NCR; metro services, electricity disrupted

A high-velocity dust storm accompanied with gusty winds and squall hit the Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) on Sunday evening. The sudden change in weather brought the mercury a few notches down in Delhi, Noida and Gurugram.

The massive storm with a wind speed of 120 km per hour uprooted several trees, dipped the visibility, bringing traffic to a standstill, while pedestrians rushed to seek shelter.

People have been complaining of delay in Metro services and the hailstorm disrupted electric supply in parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, IMD issued a fresh warning regarding rain with winds in different parts of Delhi Rohtak, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwadi, Sohna, Hodal Palwal, Jhajjar, Manesar, Gurgaon, Noah, Hasanpur, Ballabhgarh, Faridabad, Aurgabdaligadh, Kharakhauda, Sonepat, Baghpat, Badaut, Gohana, Modinagar, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Khurja Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut in next two hours.

In the wake of this massive storm, flight movement at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport has been put on hold. The storm interrupts CM Arvind Kejriwal's programme in Delhi's IP Extension

Earlier in the day, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted mercury drop from Sunday onwards.

Several parts of Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to witness another spell of thundershowers and dust storms accompanied with gusty winds and squall from Sunday onward.

The thunderstorms, which is the result of a new western disturbance in the Mediterranean Sea, hit the northern parts of India along with moderate to heavy rains.

"Thunderstorms will also hit the South, but they won't be as strong," said M Mohapatra, head of services, IMD.

Here are the tips to stay safe during the storms:

#Thunderstorm and #Lightening with Squally winds in Delhi NCR and around. Please stay safe. pic.twitter.com/WhCYkfN8b2

— NDMA India (@ndmaindia) May 13, 2018

Meanwhile, the Southwest Monsoon is expected to hit Kerala on May 28, predicted private weather forecasting agency Skymet.

The monsoon will reach the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on May 20 and is expected to advance further to Sri Lanka and over East Central Bay of Bengal on May 24, Mahesh Palawat, Vice President (Meteorology and Climate Change) of Skymet, said.

However, be it the upcoming Monsoon or thunderstorms, it will give no relief to Vidarbha, parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

While the maximum temperature in Chandrapur shot up to 47.3 degree Celsius on Friday, mercury may hit 43 degree Celsius with heat waves spread across the National Capital region in mid of May.

"Maximum temperatures are likely to rise over plains of northwest India and central parts of the country would be above 42 degree Celsius in the second week of May," according to IMD.