Rain turns Delhi weather pleasant, causes traffic jams
Light rains are expected on Thursday too, says a senior scientist at IMD
NEW DELHI: Delhi woke up to a cool and pleasant morning on Wednesday as overnight rain brought the mercury levels down, providing much-needed relief to residents even as it threw the traffic out of gear due to minor water-logging.
The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides official figures for the city, reported 21.6 mm rains till 8.30 am. Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, it measured 1.2 mm precipitation. The weather stations at Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge, and Ayanagar received 3.8, 0.7, 6.8 and 2 mm rainfall respectively.
According to the traffic police, water-logging occurred in Ashok Vihar, Sangam Vihar, Mahipalpur, Mehrauli, Karol Baug, and Munirka, among other areas.
The reason for the recent rains can be attributed to a Monsoon trough passing close to the foothills of Himalayas. The trough has been oscillating near Delhi ever since. This trough is now expected to shift further Southwards while persisting for another 48 hours. Similar weather is likely to prevail further for another 48 hours and moderate showers are likely to continue over the region. The rains might ease out a little after 24 hours, however light rains likely to continue on Thursday as well, according to weather forecasting agency Skymet.
The city recorded a high of 31.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, and a minimum temperature of 24.2 degrees Celsius. Humidity levels oscillated between 60 and 100 percent. Delhi has recorded 77.6 mm rains from July 1 to July 17, which is 25 percent less than the 30-year average of 103.2 mm, officials said.
Overall, it has received 88.8 mm precipitation against the long-term average of 168.7 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season starts –a deficiency of 47 percent, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.
Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior scientist at the IMD, said, "Light rains are expected on Thursday too. Thereafter, monsoon will become weak in the plains of northwest India, resulting in a dry spell from July 20 to 23." However, rains will continue in the hilly region, he said.
On Tuesday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 33.4 degrees Celsius and minimum at 24.2 degrees Celsius. The IMD on July 5 had declared the onset of the monsoon over the national capital. Normally, the wind system reaches the city by June 29.
