Temperatures Plunge as Torrential Rains Hit Record Highs
When Delhiites woke up on May 25, nobody expected the skies to open with such sudden force. By noon, what started as a regular, warm day turned wild: temperatures had nosedived in just half an hour from a sweaty 31.8°C to a cool 23.1°C. The drop wasn't just something you felt—streets, metro stations, and residential areas were soon under heavy sheets of rain. The city had received 29mm of rainfall by mid-afternoon, but the real shocker came the next day, when over 81mm poured down in a matter of hours. By the end of the month, Delhi had soaked up a historic 186.4mm—shattering the previous record of 165mm set in 2008, and officially making this the wettest May since the city started keeping track in 1901.
If you've ever wondered what it would feel like if Delhi suddenly turned into Shimla, social media had the answer. People posted photos of misty parks and drenched streets, joking about the city’s “hill station” weather as the mercury continued to hover well below seasonal norms. On May 26, Delhi’s maximum temperature capped at 31.6°C—9 degrees below average—while nighttime lows dipped to 19.8°C, a full 7 degrees lower than expected for late May. These numbers might sound small, but anyone living through it traded summer clothes for sweatshirts.
Thunderstorms, Gusty Winds, and Widespread Disruptions
Of course, the rain didn’t just cool things down. Gusty winds, clocking in at nearly 82 kmph, uprooted trees across neighborhoods, blocked roads, and snapped power lines. Many commuters had to abandon scooters mid-flood or wait out the heaviest downpours in metro stations. Delhi airport scrambled as delays piled up—hundreds of flights were either diverted or delayed due to the squalls, and passengers found themselves stranded, tracking updates on phone screens that never seemed to bring good news.
So, what caused such dramatic weather in May, of all months? According to the Delhi-NCR rain reports by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), this wasn’t just a freak shower. The IMD explained that a rare combination of three weather systems were in play: a western disturbance hanging over Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir, alongside two cyclonic circulations over Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. These forces pushed moisture-laden southeasterly winds right into the path of hot, dry westerlies, setting the stage for thunderstorms and torrential downpours to collide over northern India.
While Delhi struggled with pounding rain and toppled trees, neighboring Uttar Pradesh was hit just as hard. The state battled hailstorms in several districts. Strong gusts tossed debris onto roads, and towns faced power outages and blocked railway tracks. The IMD kept up its alerts, warning of further thunderstorms and possible squalls for May 29 and 30, urging everyone—especially those living in low-lying or poorly drained areas—to stay cautious as more severe rain loomed.
The dramatic scenes weren’t limited to the north. In an unusual twist, the same weather pattern triggered heavy downpours in Kerala and Karnataka, much further south. The IMD’s forecasts showed that these unseasonal rains stretched across states, soaking areas that typically wouldn’t see such intensity until the full arrival of the monsoon. Local officials in both states braced for flash floods, telling residents in vulnerable zones to be prepared for more pounding rain.
What made these storms stand out wasn’t just the amount of rainfall or the speed with which temperatures dropped, but how wide their impact proved to be. Roads and underpasses in Delhi-NCR turned into rivers, office-goers waded through knee-deep water, and transport networks needed days to recover. Meteorologists are now watching these systems closely, wondering if this is just a wild swing or a new normal for India’s weather in May.