Monsoon withdraws from Delhi after 19% surplus rainfall, wet September

Monsoon bid adieu to Delhi on Monday, with the national capital receiving 19% excess rainfall this year. The last time monsoon withdrew this early from the city was in 2015, retreating on September 30 that year.

“Monsoon withdrew from Delhi on October 1. The last rain was received on September 24. We are now in the transition phase before winter sets in,” said BP Yadav, deputy director general of the IMD.

The capital receives the heaviest rains in August. This time, though, while August was dry, Delhi received twice the rainfall in September than usual.

The monsoon bid adieu to Delhi on Monday, leaving behind an excess rainfall of 19%.

The last time monsoon withdrew so early from the national capital was in 2015, when it retreated on September 30.

“Monsoon has withdrawn from Delhi on October 1. The last rain was received on September 24. We are now in the transition phase before winter sets in,” said BP Yadav, deputy director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Monsoon had hit Delhi one day ahead of its scheduled date of arrival this year. While the scheduled date of arrival for monsoon in Delhi is June 29, this year it arrived on June 28.

Usually Delhi receives the heaviest rains in August, followed by July. But this time, August was rather dry in the city. Instead, Delhi received double the amount of rainfall in September than it usually receives.

“In September, Delhi usually receives around 125mm rain. But this time the amount of rain received in September was almost double the amount. September recorded 237.8mm rain, which is around 90% more,” said a senior IMD official.

Delhi receives 648.9mm rain between June and September, which are taken to be the monsoon months. This time, the city recorded 770.6mm rain, which is around 19% more.

The maximum 286.2mm rain was recorded in July. It was 36% above the normal. In August, however, there was a deficit of 16% as Delhi received only around 206mm rain compared to the normal of 245.7mm.

After the last rains of the monsoon hit Delhi on September 24, IMD scientists started to look for its withdrawal symptoms .

“We would now be preparing for our winter forecast, which would be issued expectedly by the first week of November ,” said a senior official.

First Published: Oct 02, 2018 23:54 IST