Trace rain in Delhi, change in wind likely to bring pollutants
NEW DELHI: As monsoon begins to withdraw from northwest India, parts of the national Capital received rainfall on Tuesday. Raisina Hill and India Gate complex in central Delhi saw moderate showers, while parts of north Delhi and other areas received light rain.
According to the India Meteorological Department, 0.5 mm rainfall was recorded on Tuesday till 5.30pm.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), monsoon will begin withdrawing from many parts of northwest India starting Wednesday, leading to a gradual reduction in temperature and moisture.
“The thunderstorm activity over some parts of Delhi [on Tuesday] was mainly due to high day time temperatures and moisture. There is also a western disturbance which is impacting the region. Withdrawal will happen gradually from all of northwest India,” said K Sathi Devi, head, national weather forecasting centre.
The minimum temperature on Monday were recorded at 25.7 degrees Celsius, while the maximum was recorded at 36.4 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature on Tuesday settled at 35.4 degrees Celsius, one notch above the normal.
The weatherman has forecast cloudy sky for Wednesday, and the maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 35 and 25 degrees Celsius respectively.
The India Meteorological Department has issued green alert from October 5 to October 10, indicating uneventful weather conditions.
Delhi’s air quality is likely to deteriorate and remain moderate on October 6 and 7, according to the ministry of earth sciences’ air quality early warning system.
One of the main reason for the drop in air quality in the capital is that now the predominant surface wind is likely to blow in from the northwest direction. North-westerly winds tend to blow fumes from stubble fires from northern India towards Delhi.
Despite a late-onset, the monsoon this year has seen some erratic, record-breaking patterns. The monsoon officially arrived in the national capital on July 13, after a delay of 16 days instead of its usual onset on June 27. The resultant rainfall, arising from the late arrival of monsoon was, however, covered with only a few spells of heavy rain, with July receiving 507.1mm rain, compared to the normal precipitation of 210.6mm, and recording a surplus of 141%.
In August, monsoon patterns changed again when the city experienced two spells of break monsoon. IMD officials said one such spell of break monsoon lasted for 10 days, making it one of the longest dry spells the city has ever seen in the monsoon season.
In August, Delhi received 214.5mm rainfall against the average monthly precipitation of 247.7mm. The rainfall trends changed again in September. Unlike August, which by and large remained dry due to the break monsoon, Delhi recorded eight rainy days between September 1 and September 10 with the rainfall recording standing at 248.9mm against the normal of 62.6mm for those 10 days. The overall monthly average rainfall for September is 125.1mm. Last September, Delhi’s rainfall recording was only 20.9mm for the whole month.