Rains lash parts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh; traffic jams in several areas of national capital

A spell of moderate rains along with thundershowers drenched parts of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, while Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana witnessed light showers in some areas. In Delhi, rains led to heavy waterlogging, which disrupted traffic movement on key roads.

The MeT Department has forecast light to moderate rains at a few places in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in the next 24 hours, and rainfall along with thundershower for Uttar Pradesh for September 8.

Rains had been evading the national capital for the last few days, with the city recording just traces of rainfall in the first five days of September.

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides official figures for the city, recorded nil rainfall till Saturday morning. Normally, the observatory records 28.8 mm precipitation during the period.

The Palam and Lodhi road weather stations have also reported a rain deficiency of 99 and 100 per cent, respectively, this month.

Overall, the city has recorded 555.6 mm rainfall against the normal of 552.6 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season starts.

Delhi recorded 237 mm rainfall in August this year, the highest for the month in seven years, according to an India Meteorological Department data.

In Uttar Pradesh, thunderstorm accompanied with lightning also occurred at isolated places.

The maximum temperatures stayed close to normal levels in most parts of Punjab and Haryana, even as rains lashed a few areas.

Chandigarh, the common capital of both states, recorded its high at 34.3 degrees Celsius, according to a report of the Meteorological (MeT) Department.

In Haryana, Ambala and Bhiwani had maximum temperatures of 34.1 and 34.9 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Ambala, Hisar and Narnaul received 0.2, 6 and 9 mm rainfall, respectively.

In Punjab, Amritsar's maximum temperature settled at 32.1 degrees Celsius, while maximum temperatures of Ludhiana and Patiala were 34.7 and 33 degrees Celsius. Rajasthan's Chhatargarh in Bikaner district recorded a maximum of 7 cm rainfall. The rainfall was recorded since Friday till Saturday morning, the MeT Department said.

Bap (Jodhpur), Nokha (Bikaner), Jawaja (Ajmer) and Khinvsar (Nagaur) each recorded 6 cm rains while several other places recorded rainfall of 5 cm or below during this period, it said.

Ganganagar, Pilani, Phalodi received 10 mm, 3.1 mm, 0.8 mm rainfall respectively while Churu and Bikaner recorded 0.2 mm rains till Saturday evening since morning.