After storm & fury, rain keeps city waiting

LUCKNOW: Two days after making a resounding entry into the state on June 23, monsoon currents seem to have lost the steam after reaching Sultanpur, about 150km away from Lucknow.
The monsoon line on Monday night was passing from over Sultanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri in UP. The situation this year is same as it was in 2014 when monsoon, after entering UP, got stalled over Sultanpur and took a week to revive.
However, weather office is hopeful that monsoon will gain strength in a day or two. But, rainfall would be only light to moderate. Thunderstorm may also lash the city though sultry conditions will continue for some days.
“The low pressure areas over the Bay of Bengal and Chhattisgarh which fuelled rapid advancement of monsoon currents into the state in the past two days have weakened, but a revival may take place soon,” said state Met director JP Gupta.
The rain deficit of the city has already climbed to 90%, with only 5.1mm rains recorded in June so far against the normal 51mm fixed for the period. The normal date of monsoon arrival in the city is June 18.
Meanwhile, Monday was hot and humid, with maximum and minimum temperatures around 39 and 27.6 degrees Celsius, respectively. Relative humidity was between 33%-83%. Partly cloudy sky and strong winds in the evening brought some relief from the sultry conditions.
Maximum and minimum temperatures on Tuesday are expected to be around 40 and 28 degrees Celsius, respectively.