DELHI WEATHER : Delhi experienced its coldest August day in at least 14 years on Saturday, with the falling to 26.4 degrees Celsius — 7.8 degrees below normal — following relentless rainfall across the city. The showers, which began around midnight on Friday, continued non-stop through Saturday, bringing much of the capital to a standstill.
IMD records show that the previous lowest August maximum was 27.9 degrees Celsius in 2012, with 2020 data unavailable. At Safdarjung, the city’s primary weather station, 78.7 mm of rain was recorded in the 24 hours ending 8:30 am Saturday. Other locations saw heavy rainfall as well — Aya Nagar received 100 mm, Lodhi Road 80 mm, Pusa 69 mm, and Palam 31.8 mm. Under overcast skies and intermittent showers, Delhi’s minimum temperature settled at 23.8 degrees Celsius, 3.2 degrees below normal. This temperature ranks among the 10 lowest August maximums recorded at Safdarjung since 1969.
The downpour, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan weekend, caused widespread disruption. Several residential areas were submerged, major roads were flooded, and fallen trees as well as potholes brought traffic to a crawl. Severe congestion was reported from multiple locations, including Ring Road, Anand Parbat, Zakhira Railway Underpass, ITO, Dhaula Kuan, Sarai Kale Khan, MB Road near Sainik Farm, Azadpur Market, and the vicinity of New Delhi Railway Station.
Flight operations were also hit, with Flightradar data indicating 200 affected flights on Saturday morning. On Friday night, Delhi airport issued an advisory assuring passengers that on-ground teams were working with all stakeholders to minimize inconvenience.
The Public Works Department said it had received about 30 waterlogging complaints and deployed rapid-response teams with pumps to clear inundated areas. One underpass on the Pragati Maidan transit corridor was shut for two hours due to flooding before being reopened.
The IMD has forecast more cloudy skies and rainfall for Sunday.