Rain and thundershowers are expected over Delhi in the evening.
New Delhi: A strong dust storm hit Delhi this afternoon followed by light rains in various parts of the city and neighbouring areas. It started around 4 pm and affected visibility, leading to traffic jams in some parts of the national capital.
The cloudy weather brought the mercury down slightly, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The wind speed was 50 km per hour.
A hailstorm is also likely, chief of the IMD's regional forecasting centre Kuldeep Srivastava told news agency PTI.
Very light rain has also been recorded in some areas, he said.
Mahesh Palawat, a climate expert at Skymet Weather, had earlier said: "Thunder clouds are approaching to Delhi NCR from south west. Dust storm accompanied rain and thunderstorm are expected over south west Delhi. May cover more areas soon."
Rain and thundershowers are expected over Delhi in the evening and night, Skymet said on Twitter.
Delhi's air quality index also deteriorated to 252 at 6 pm from 238 at 4 pm.
The city recorded a minimum temperature of 20.2 degrees Celsius in the morning. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 39 degrees Celsius.
On Thursday, the capital had recorded a maximum temperature of 40.5 degrees Celsius, the highest so far this season. The minimum temperature had settled at 21.5 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal.
The mercury is predicted to remain below 40 degrees Celsius for the next five to six days, the IMD said.