Rain relief likely on Wednesday

New Delhi: The national capital can look forward to rain next week, which is expected to bring some respite for the Delhiites from the gruelling heat.

According to the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC) in Delhi, a fresh Western disturbance is likely to cause thundery development on Tuesday, after which Delhi is likely to witness dust storm and rainfall on Wednesday.

Following this, the maximum temperature is likely to drop by two-three degrees, said the officials from the weather department. Even Thursday will see a partly cloudy sky with the possibility of thunder and lightning.

Delhi-NCR has been reeling under extreme heat conditions since the past several days and the maximum temperature also crossed the 40° Celsius mark at some places.

According to Skymet Weather, a private weather forecast agency, these weather conditions can be attributed to the hot and dry Northwesterly winds from Pakistan, reaching the region via Rajasthan.

On Sunday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 38° Celsius, six notches above normal, and the minimum was recorded at 24° Celsius, five notches above normal.

According to RWFC, the highest maximum temperature recorded in March was 38.6° Celsius on March 31, with the mean maximum temperature of the month recorded at 30.9° Celsius.

However, the weathermen said that the relief from rain might be short-lived and the relatively cooler weather is likely to last till the next weekend. The temperature will start rising again when the Western disturbance fades.

The humidity levels on Sunday oscillated between 55 and 80 per cent.

The maximum temperature on Monday is likely to hover around 38° Celsius and the minimum is expected to hover arou-nd 23° Celsius.