NEW DELHI: The city reeled under extreme heat for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, with the maximum temperature soaring to 41 degrees Celsius, the highest of the season, before an unexpected spell of rain cooled it down considerably. Strong thunderstorms, intense rain and gusty winds swept across Delhi-NCR in the evening, catching both residents and India Meteorological Department (IMD) off guard. It also brought traffic to a near standstill across multiple key routes, leaving commuters stranded.IMD has not predicted rain or thunderstorm for Saturday and Sunday either, expecting the maximum temperature to be 39-41 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 40-42 on Sunday with partly cloudy skies.Friday began on a humid note, with hazy conditions and light drizzling reported in parts of the city. By afternoon, rising humidity levels pushed the temperature well above normal. At base station Safdarjung, the maximum settled at 41 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal, while the minimum was 24 degrees Celsius, also above the seasonal average.

While IMD had earlier forecast “isolated light rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning” over Delhi on April 17, the actual weather turned out to be far more intense and widespread, marking a significant miss in the forecast.Initial activity between 4pm and 6pm brought brief relief by causing temperatures to drop by 4-10 degrees across parts of the city. The rainfall remained minimal during this period, with Safdarjung recording only a trace till 5.30pm. However, conditions escalated sharply thereafter.Between 5.30pm and 8.30pm, the city witnessed a sudden surge in rain intensity. Safdarjung recorded 10.4mm rainfall, while Palam logged 16mm, Pusa 8mm and Mayur Vihar 6.5mm. Strong winds accompanied it, with gusts reaching up to 55kmph at Palam by 8pm.IMD scrambled to update its forecasts through multiple nowcasts issued between 8pm and 10pm, warning of moderate rain and gusty winds. By 8.50pm, it issued an alert cautioning residents that intense weather activity would persist for the next few hours and advised people to stay indoors.“A strong line of thunderstorms has developed moving west to east across Delhi and nearby areas. Radar shows intense convective cores (yellow/red zones), indicating moderate rain, gusty winds and possible lightning activity,” IMD said in a late evening update.According to officials, the sudden weather shift was driven by a western disturbance in the middle and upper troposphere, coupled with a trough extending from south Punjab to southwest Madhya Pradesh at lower levels, while the conditions intensified rapidly beyond previous projections.Despite the rainfall, Delhi’s air quality remained poor, with AQI rising to 263 on Friday, against 226 a day earlier, with nitrogen dioxide as the primary pollutant.The traffic movement was affected on several major stretches, including Kalindi Kunj, Ramphal Chowk in Dwarka Sector 7, New Rajdhani Enclave in Swasthya Vihar, the Pusa Road-Qutub corridor and Gagan Vihar in Shahdara. Key commute points such as Kashmere Gate to Civil Lines, Barapullah flyover, Chirag Dilli, Chhatarpur and South Extension also witnessed congestion.For many, routine commutes turned into prolonged ordeals. Shashank Mehra (27) recounted, “What was meant to be a five-minute ride from Lajpat Nagar Central Market to Moolchand metro station turned into a nightmare. We were stranded in the rain for over half an hour, with no movement in sight.”As frustration mounted, citizens flooded social media platform X with real-time updates and complaints. One user, an AIIMS doctor, described being stuck for 45 minutes on the Barapullah flyover, moving barely 200 metres. Another commuter reported a complete standstill near Rithala metro station even after 30 minutes.