Delhi: July turns rain-surplus

NEW DELHI: After Delhi received rain for three straight days, Safdarjung, which is the city’s base station, has crossed the monthly normal mark for July. The capital saw two spells of rain on Tuesday.
While light rain was recorded in some parts in the morning, the rain activity intensified in the evening hours, causing traffic snarls and waterlogging at many places. India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts very light rain or thundershowers on Wednesday and Thursday.
“The rain activity is expected to intensify on Friday. There is a possibility of thundery development over the weekend, but light showers are predicted on July 26,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD and head of Regional Weather Forecasting Centre.
According to IMD, Safdarjung has received 220.4mm of rainfall in this month till 8.30am on Tuesday while the normal mark for July is 210.6mm. In June, Safdarjung stood at a deficit of 47% as it received just 34.8mm rainfall against the normal mark of 65.5mm. A Met official said that as Delhi witnessed 10 rainy days in July so far, it helped in pushing the Safdarjung station above the normal mark. As rainy days are expected through the month, it will add to the “surplus” category, he said.
The IMD data showed that in July last year, Safdarjung was at a surplus of 13%, recording 236.9mm rainfall. After light morning showers on Tuesday, Safdarjung recorded 6.3mm rainfall between 8.30am and 5.30pm. Palam, Ayanagar, Lodhi Road and Ridge received 29.3mm, 13.4mm, 6.7mm and 4.2mm rainfall, respectively, during the same period.
An intense spell of rain lashed out across the city in the evening and Safdarjung recorded 54mm rainfall from 5.30pm to 8.30pm. Palam witnessed 9.4mm rainfall along with gusty winds at the speed of 50kmph during these hours.
The maximum temperature was recorded at 31.9 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal. The minimum temperature dipped to 24 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. The relative humidity oscillated between 79% and 98%.
Safdarjung recorded 38.4mm rainfall till 8.30am on Tuesday, but some stations — Najafgarh (79.5mm), Narela (71.5mm) and Palam (67.6mm) — reported heavy rain during the same period. IMD classifies more than 64.5mm rainfall in a day as “heavy”.
As the rain washed out pollutants, the air quality remained “satisfactory” on Tuesday. The overall air quality index (AQI) of the capital was recorded at 81.