By IANS
New Delhi : Scattered rainfall, dark clouds and cool breeze brought down the hot summer temperature by a few notches Friday across most of north and east India and the weatherman has promised the pleasant weather conditions would continue over the weekend.
"Most of north India would experience light to moderate rainfall coupled with thunderstorms till Sunday noon. Expect a cool weekend this time," an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.
"The upper air circulation, concentrated over Punjab and Haryana, is affecting the weather conditions in this part of the country," he said. A well-marked low pressure area over north Andaman Sea and the neighbourhood, which is likely to concentrate into a depression, could bring widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rain over Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the next few days," the official said.
It would also result in scattered rain and thundershowers over West Bengal, Sikkim, and other adjoining states.
While Chandigarh recorded a maximum of 36 degrees Celsius (one degree below normal), Patiala in Punjab saw the mercury sliding two notches below normal to 37 degrees. Jammu, which had recorded a maximum of 40 degrees Tuesday, saw a milder 31 degrees Friday – six degrees below normal.
Both Dehradun (34) and Lucknow (39) recorded temperatures one degrees below normal.
While Agartala, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Patiala, Bhopal and Shimla witnessed slight rainfall, Jammu recorded a moderate 9.2 mm rainfall. Kolkata also received moderate rainfall during the period.
On Friday, the Indian capital experienced another pleasant day with strong breeze and cloudy skies bringing down the mercury to nearly four degrees below normal. Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 36.5 degrees Celsius.
The adjoining cities of Ghaziabad and Noida received mild rain, and the cooling effect was felt in the capital.
"The weather is amazing. Rain in the middle of scorching heat has brought great relief. We wish it continues," said Sharmila Basu, a resident of Ghaziabad. "It started raining at around 11 a.m. and continued for almost an hour."
The capital could witness a few spells of light rain till Saturday afternoon. "Light rain coupled with thundershowers is expected in Delhi today and tomorrow," an IMD official said.
On Wednesday, Delhi experienced light rain. A drizzle coupled with strong breeze brought down the maximum temperature to 32.3 degrees Celsius – 8 degrees below normal.
In the last fortnight, northwest India experienced a heat wave with the mercury soaring much above normal.
On April 28, Delhi recorded a maximum of 43 degrees Celsius while Churu in Rajasthan recorded 46.2 degrees on April 30.