Severe Dust Storm Hits Delhi-NCR: Flights Diverted, Trees Uprooted, Chaos Across City:

A fierce dust storm coupled with high-speed winds and precipitation hit Delhi-NCR on Friday evening causing massive disruption. In the entire Indian capital, trees were uprooted, roads were clogged and traffic came to a standstill in some regions.

Flights Diverted as Storm Hits IGI Airport

Because of scant visibility and bad weather, more than 15 flights were diverted to other airbases, increasing the mayhem already present within the terminals.

Passengers on board an IndiGo flight from Jammu to Delhi reported attendant turbulence with for landing discipline as the aircraft went through several rounds of holding patterns prior to landing.

Residents Share Terrifying Storm Moments Online

Social media was flooded with content from residents describing their traumatic experiences. One high-rise user tweeted:

“The 20th floor, lights swaying… This kind of feels like we’ve been through an earthquake for the last twenty minutes.”

Other video remembered a dust apocalypse in Gurgaon wherein obscured visibility combined clouds severely hindered heavy winds.

Vehicles Wrecked, Trees Grounded, Signboards Retrieved Vandalically

Due to the peak evening hours, numerous videos were captured. Roads were being blocked due to debris, signposts were being captured vividly and trees collapsing on vehicles.

Delhi Seeing Wind Speeds of Up to 74 kmph

As noted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD):

Wind Gusts at IGI Airport reached 74 kmph

Pragati Maidan recorded 70 kmph

Lodhi Road recorded 69 kmph

Safdarjung at 56 kmph

Najafgarh at 37 kmph

IMD's Weather Predictions for Delhi-NCR This Weekend

Thunderstorms and rainfall are predicted for Saturday in Delhi, with temperatures expected to stay between 20 degrees Celsius (minimum) and 35 degrees Celsius (maximum). Sunday should clear up and give some relief to people’s weather woes, according to the IMD forecast.