Heavy rains makes May Delhi's wettest ever on record

NEW DELHI: Delhi witnessed an unprecedented spell of rain on Sunday, with 81.4 mm recorded in just a few hours, marking May 2025 as the wettest since weather records began in 1901, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The month’s cumulative rainfall has reached 186.4 mm, surpassing the previous record of 165 mm set in May 2008.

The intense downpour, which began around 2 am, brought with it gusty winds clocking up to 82 kmph. The storm led to widespread waterlogging, uprooted trees, and disrupted flight operations at the Delhi airport.

Categorised as “heavy” rainfall by the IMD, Sunday’s showers also became the second-highest 24-hour rainfall recorded in May, trailing only the 119.3 mm logged on May 20, 2021. At the Safdarjung observatory, the city’s primary weather station, the temperature plummeted by 10 degrees—from 31°C to 21°C—within just 75 minutes.

Meteorologists attributed the extreme weather to the convergence of moist southeasterly winds and dry westerlies, intensified by three concurrent weather systems: a western disturbance over north Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir, and two upper air cyclonic circulations—one over northwest Uttar Pradesh and north Haryana, and another above west Rajasthan.

Earlier this month, Delhi had recorded 77 mm of rain on May 2.

While the IMD has not issued any colour-coded alerts for the coming days, it forecasts occasional light rain and thunderstorms this week, accompanied by winds of up to 50 kmph.

On Sunday, the city registered a maximum temperature of 31.6°C, nine degrees below the seasonal average, and a minimum of 19.8°C, which is seven degrees below normal for May.