After the heavy rain spell that took Delhi by storm, the rain has shifted to areas surrounding Delhi, and, as a result, Lucknow saw a massive amount of rainfall in the early hours of Wednesday, January 23. The rains came as a surprise to the residents of the city even though the Met department had predicted it.

On Sunday, Delhi marked it’s warmest January day since 2007 and since then, officials had declared that it would rain in and around the city for a couple of days. On Monday, Delhi saw spells of heavy rains that jammed roads, delayed flights and trains and caused sinkholes in the city. It seems that the winds and clouds changed direction from there and headed towards U.P. Apart from Lucknow, Aligarh, Varanasi and Agra, all saw some amount of rainfall.

In Lucknow, the rains led to a significant rise in mercury levels and has been increasing since January 22, Tuesday, when the mornings were murky and there was a slight drizzle in the city. On January 23, full fledged rain fall hit the city of Lucknow, bringing with it dense fog, traffic issues and a 3-8 degree rise in temperatures.

Experts and Met department authorities allude the rainfall to be a result of heavy snowfall and chilly winds in the Himalayas and a few other mountainous regions. Another factor is the rain carrying clouds travelling from Rajasthan to the interiors of the country. As of now, the temperatures have been rising but as the chilly winds make their way into the plains, temperatures are expected to significantly take a dip.

As for Lucknow, the next few days could see mild drizzle till Friday, after which, the days would be sunny and the skies clear on Saturday and Sunday. Additionally, temperatures may be about 2-4 degrees above normal, but would fall when the skies clear and the chilly winds are prevalent in the atmosphere.