Highest single-day rainfall for August since 2007 in Delhi

At 8.30 am Saturday, the Safdarjung station had logged 138.8 mm of rain in 24 hours. This figure surpassed the previous single-day high of 166.6 mm on August 2, 2007. In this monsoon season, the highest rainfall recorded in 24 hours so far had been 100 mm on July 27.

Traffic Alert
1. Waterlogging on the way from Rajdhani Park Metro Station to Mundka.
2 . Water logging from Nangloi to Najafgarh road near water tank.
3. Water logging at Bakkarwala.

— Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) August 21, 2021

Between 2.30 am and 5.30 am alone, the Safdarjung weather station recorded 73.2 mm of rainfall, followed by 50.4 mm in the next three hours. Rainfall recorded at the stations at the Ridge and Lodhi Road exceeded the figures from Safdarjung, though the Safdarjung station provides representative data for the city. In the 24 hours till 8.30 am on Saturday, a total of 149.2 mm was recorded at the Ridge, followed by 149 mm at Lodhi Road. During the same time frame, Palam logged 84 mm of rainfall, while Aya Nagar saw 68.2 mm.

The record for single-day rainfall at Safdarjung stands at an unbeaten 184 mm on August 2, 1961.

Intermittent rainfall continued through the day on Saturday, with the intensity falling later in the day. Around 3.4 mm of rainfall was recorded at Safdarjung between 8.30 am and 11.30 am on Saturday, followed by around 1.3 mm between 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm. Post noon, the Ridge recorded the highest amount of rainfall at 18.3 mm.

After offering brief respite from warm weather, rainfall could peter out over the next few days, according to the IMD’s seven-day forecast. Light rain remains on the forecast for August 22 and 23, and the rest of the week is likely to be dry. The maximum temperature is likely to climb back up to around 37 degrees Celsius by August 25. Strong surface winds are on the forecast for August 24 and 25, with partly cloudy skies likely on August 26 and 27.

Between June 1 and August 21, Delhi has recorded 478.3 mm of rainfall — an average calculated using figures from all stations in the city. This exceeds the normal rainfall of 417.6 mm for the same period by around 15%, going by data from the IMD.

The North Delhi area has seen ‘large excess’ rainfall of 809 mm, against a normal of 400.8 mm so far. New Delhi has also witnessed a large excess — 601.4 mm compared to a normal of 364.2 mm. East Delhi and North East Delhi have recorded deficit rainfall for the season.