Delhi’s seasonal monsoon deficit now stands at 54%

NEW DELHI: Parts of the capital received light rain on Friday, with Safdarjung, Delhi’s base station recording 3.9mm of rainfall between 8.30am and 5.30pm, the India Meteorological Department said. While Lodhi road also received 5.6mm of rainfall, no rain was recorded at Palam, Ayanagar and Najafgarh stations. Delhi’s seasonal monsoon deficit now stands at 54% and while the IMD has forecast light rains to continue for the week, it is unlikely to cover the deficient much, officials said.
While the ‘normal’ rain for the season for Delhi is 174.6mm, it has only received 80.4mm of rain so far. Districtwise, northwest Delhi suffers the worst, recording a rain deficit of 90% so far this season. Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD and head of the regional weather forecasting centre said that light showers are likely to continue but no “intense” spells were expected this week.
“The monsoon activity over Delhi is not pronounced or strong at the moment. It may pick up towards the end of the month. We expect light rains to continue till July 23, but moderate to heavy showers were unlikely,” said Srivastava.
Humidity levels meanwhile are expected to remain on the higher side. After the spell of rain on Friday, humidity levels oscillated between 61% and 87% in the last 24 hours. The Ridge station also received ‘trace’ rainfall.
Delhi’s maximum temperature on Friday was 37.3 degrees celsius – two degrees above normal. Met officials say the maximum should continue to hover between 35 and 37 degrees Celsius in the next few days. “For Saturday, Delhi may see light rain and a maximum temperature of around 36 degrees celsius,” said a met official.
The spell of light rain in the last 48 hours meanwhile has kept Delhi’s air quality in the ‘satisfactory’ range, with a reading of 79 recording on CPCB’s air quality index (AQI). An AQI below 51 is termed as ‘good’, between 51 and 100 is termed as ‘satisfactory’ and between 101 and 200 is ‘moderate’ on CPCB’s index.
Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida may receive rainfall of 4-6 cm between July 18 and 20, IMD said.
The IMD said monsoons, which was supposed to arrive at the beginning of July, was deflected towards Rajasthan.
A downpour in the range of 4-6 cms can be expected in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad between July 18-20 when monsoon rain-laden winds are expected to pass through the region, informed IMD.
Noida and Greater have received little rain in the past 24 hours.
“Monsoon showers in these parts have been delayed because the wind was deflected towards Rajasthan. But we are going to receive good rain over the next few days,” Kuldeep Srivastava, senior scientist, IMD, said.