Friday showers help bring temp down, more rain likely today, says Met dept
THE MERCURY DROPPED BY NEARLY EIGHT DEGREES AND STOOD AT 27.5 DEGREES CELSIUS ON FRIDAY
NEWDELHI: Heavy rain and thundershowers lashed Delhi on Friday, bringing respite to residents from the prevalent hot and muggy weather.
Met officials of the regional weather forecasting centre said that intermittent rains would continue even on Saturday and Delhiites can expect to enjoy a pleasant weakened ahead.
“A low pressure area has developed over Madhya Pradesh and this is triggering the rain in central and northwest India. Delhi will receive light to moderate rain on Saturday too,” said a senior Met official.
While Safdarjung area received around 18.4mm of rain till 5:30pm on Friday, the highest rain was recorded at Ayanagar (24mm). Palam received around 17mm, Lodhi Road received around 22.3 mm and Ridge area received around 22.7 mm of rain throughout Friday.
The mercury, which was hov- ering above 35 degrees Celsius till Thursday, dropped by nearly eight degrees and stood at 27.5 degrees Celsius. The drop was so drastic that the difference between the day’s maximum and minimum temperatures was just one degree.
Met officials are hopeful that Friday’s heavy rain would be able to bring down the rain deficiency that Delhi is presently reeling under. Till Thursday Delhi was reeling under 38% rain deficiency.
Officials also said that the heavy rains at this stage could delay the harvesting season in adjoining states by a few more days.
“The harvesting season is around the corner and is likely to take off in the next few days. But if there is moderate to heavy rain at this stage then the soil will become moist and the harvesting could be delayed,” said a senior official of the agriculture department of Haryana.
Met officials claimed that even though Delhi received around 191.9mm of rain in June this year, even before monsoon could set in, the rains almost vanished in July and August.
“Delhi receives the maximum monsoon rain in the months of July and August. But this time there was deficient rain in these two months resulting in deficiency,” said a Met official.