By IANS,
New Delhi: A dust storm hit several parts of the national capital Saturday evening and brought the temperature down marginally on a hot, sunny day which saw the maximum temperature of 40.8 degrees Celsius, said the weather office.
An India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said the storm, with maximum wind velocity of 42 kmph, remained stable only for about two minutes.
“The storm hit the capital around 8 p.m. and remained for a couple of minutes,” said the official.
As it raised thick clouds of dust, the storm caused serious problems for pedestrians and motorists. Praveen, a motorcyclist, told IANS that he had to stop his bike due to low visibility during the storm.
“I was unable to see for five minutes till the storm eased a little,” said Arpit Goswami, a sales executive.
The temperature marginally came down from 35.6 degrees Celsius around 8 p.m. to 35.1 degrees Celsius around 9.30 p.m.
Earlier in the day, the capital recorded the maximum temperature of 40.8 degrees Celsius, a notch above what is the average for this time of the season.
“The day’s minimum temperature was three notches above average at 29 degrees Celsius,” said the IMD official.
The humidity levels wavered between a high of 40 and a low of 16 percent.
According to the IMD, Delhi will get no relief from the hot weather Sunday, as no rains were likely. The skies, however, will remain partly cloudy.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 43 and 29 degrees Celsius, respectively.