New Delhi: In the early hours of Sunday, a powerful thunderstorm swept through Delhi, unleashing an astonishing 81.4 mm of rain within just a few hours. This deluge has made May 2025 the wettest May on record for the city since systematic measurements began in 1901, as reported by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The total rainfall for the month has now reached 186.4 mm, surpassing the previous record of 165 mm set in May 2008.
The storm, which struck around 2 AM, was accompanied by gusty winds that peaked at 82 km/h, resulting in widespread waterlogging, uprooted trees, and significant disruptions at the airport. The rainfall recorded on Sunday alone, classified as “heavy” by IMD standards, marked the second-highest 24-hour rainfall for May in Delhi’s history, following the 119.3 mm recorded on May 20, 2021. Overnight, temperatures plummeted dramatically, with the mercury dropping 10 degrees at Safdarjung—from 31 to 21 degrees Celsius in just 75 minutes.
Meteorologists attribute this unusually intense storm to the interaction between moist southeasterly winds and dry westerlies, further exacerbated by three active weather systems: a western disturbance over northern Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, along with two upper air cyclonic circulations—one over northwest Uttar Pradesh and north Haryana, and the other over west Rajasthan.
Earlier in the month, Delhi had already experienced 77 mm of rain on May 2, according to meteorological data.
While no color-coded alerts have been issued for the upcoming days, the IMD has forecast intermittent light rain and thunderstorms, with winds reaching up to 50 km/h expected to persist throughout the week.
