Little rain as forecast falls short once again
NEW DELHI: On a day when Delhi was supposed to have received “heavy rain and thunderstorm”, a forecast that prompted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue an orange alert, the city on Sunday had to make do with cloudy skies and humid weather, as just a few parts received light rain.
Met officials said only areas around central, south and southwest Delhi received light rains in the evening.
“The trough formed around Haryana and in parts around southwest Delhi, but only some parts of central, south and southwest Delhi received rainfall. Rainfall activity is expected to intensify and cover more areas by Sunday night and Monday,” said a senior IMD official.
Met recordings show that on Sunday the Safdarjung weather station, which is considered the official marker for the city, saw 7.2mm rainfall, while the Palam observatory received 3.3mm.
maximum temperature at Safdarjung was 36.4 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal, and the minimum temperature was 28°C.
IMD on Friday declared an ‘orange alert’ for July 18 and a ‘yellow alert’ for July 19 to July 21 in Delhi, forecasting heavy rain and thunderstorms during the weekend. Met officials also said that with the four days of rain, the rainfall deficit in the city would likely be covered.
As of Saturday, Delhi recorded a rainfall deficit of nearly 51%.
Sunday marked yet another occasion when the IMD got its forecast wrong this season. The string of inaccurate monsoon forecasts began with the initial prediction that monsoon would arrive on June 15, which would have been the earliest ever onset in the Capital. The department then shifted the forecast to June 29. Then, from July 9 onwards, the Met forecast the arrival of monsoon “in the next 24 hours”, till it arrived on July 13.
According to IMD, an orange alert is issued when there is a forecast of heavy rainfall that could disrupt the movement of people and traffic in a city. During a yellow alert, there are chances of light to moderate rains and government agencies are advised to “be on alert”.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change) at Skymet weather, a private forecaster said, “There is a possibility of rains intensifying from Sunday night. Moderate rainfall is likely to continue through Monday.”