Wednesday evening in Delhi started like any other. Offices were wrapping up. People were heading home. Traffic was building on the usual stretches.
Then, around 5:15 PM everything shifted. A sandstorm rolled in first, the kind that turns the air brown and sends people scrambling for cover. That was followed almost immediately by thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Within the span of an hour, the city went from a warm March evening to something that felt like the middle of monsoon season.
The India Meteorological Department had already issued a yellow alert before the weather hit. Winds of 30 to 40 kilometres per hour were predicted. What arrived felt stronger than that in several parts of the city.
What Wednesday Evening Looked Like
Traffic on major roads came to a standstill as the rain hit during peak commute hours. Visibility dropped. Underpasses started collecting water. People caught outside without umbrellas had nowhere to go.
Power lines took a hit from the strong winds and blackouts were reported from parts of the city and surrounding areas. The sandstorm that preceded the rain extended into Gurgaon and Noida, so this was not just a Delhi problem. The entire NCR belt felt it at roughly the same time.
For all the disruption it caused the rain did bring one thing people had been waiting for — some relief from the heat that had been climbing steadily over the past few weeks.
Areas Under Alert
The IMD alert was not limited to Delhi city alone. A large stretch of northern India came under the warning zone.
In Haryana, the alert covers Narwana, Jind, Panipat, Hissar, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Sonipat, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Narnaul, Nuh, Palwal, Jhajjar and Charkhi Dadri among others.
In western Uttar Pradesh, Shamli, Bagpat, Baraut and Khekra are included in the warning. In Rajasthan, Bhiwari, Khairthal, Kotputli and Tizara fall under the alert zone.
Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad and Ghaziabad were all directly in the path of the storm system alongside Delhi.
What the Next 3 Days Look Like
The IMD has forecast continued unsettled weather across Delhi NCR through March 19, 20 and 21. Here is what to expect day by day —
March 19 — Thursday Partly cloudy skies with one or two spells of rain or thunder expected through the day. The maximum temperature is around 29 degrees Celsius and the minimum around 16 degrees.
March 20 — Friday: Similar conditions continue. Cloud cover stays and another round of rain or thunder is possible. Maximum temperature expected to be around 28 degrees with a minimum of 17 degrees.
March 21 — Saturday Mostly cloudy through the day with light rain likely at some point. Temperatures remain in a comfortable range.
March 22 and 23, the weather is expected to ease up with partly cloudy skies and largely clear conditions returning by the weekend.
The IMD has also said there is no significant rise in maximum or minimum temperatures expected over the coming week, which means the heat that had been building before this rain system arrived is unlikely to return aggressively in the immediate short term.
Air Quality Improved — More Improvement Expected
One direct benefit of the rain hitting Delhi NCR is what it does to the air. Before the rain arrived, pollution levels across the region were sitting in uncomfortable territory.
In Noida, readings at various monitoring stations ranged between 201 at Sector 62, the lower end of the poor category, to 260 at Sector 1. In Ghaziabad, Loni recorded the highest reading at 284, while Indirapuram and Vasundhara were at 239 and 246, respectively.
In Delhi itself, Chandni Chowk recorded 287, Anand Vihar was at 262, Bawana at 230, Ashok Vihar at 228 and RK Puram at 221.
The IMD has said the rain over the next three days is expected to bring these numbers down further. For a city that has been dealing with poor air quality through the winter months that is genuinely good news.
March rain in Delhi is not unusual but a storm system of this intensity during evening rush hour is always disruptive. The combination of sandstorm, lightning, thunder and heavy rain hitting simultaneously and then continuing for three days, signals that the transition between winter and summer is happening faster and more aggressively this
