MORNING RAINS BRING RESPITE
Showers result in dip in temperature to 27 degrees Celsius
NEW DELHI: Delhi and other parts of the National Capital Region finally received some respite from the scorching heat, with spells of rain witnessed in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad on Wednesday morning.
The showers resulted in a dip in temperature to 27 degrees Celsius. The IMD officials predicted that the monsoon will arrive in Delhi in 48 hours.
At 11 am, Palam, the warmest region in Delhi, was at 29 degrees Celsius. The mercury in Delhi fell on Tuesday after the maximum temperature dropped by eight degrees due to pre-monsoon activity. The temperatures will stay well below 35 degrees this week, the IMD official said. “Wednesday will be generally cloudy with few spells of rain or thundershowers in different pockets of the city,” he said. In the past 24 hours, Safadarjung saw 3.4 mm, Palam recorded 0.6 mm, Lodhi Road recorded 7.7 mm and Ridge area recorded 2 mm of rainfall.
“As the Monsoon nears, we now expect light to moderate pre-monsoon rain and thundershowers to now pick up pace and Delhi is most likely to record rains of varying intensity during the next 3-4 days. The monthly average rainfall for Delhi during the month of June is 82.1 mm and the city has only witnessed 36.2 mm of rains until June 26. Although rains would now increase it is unlikely for Delhi to reach up to its normal rainfall,” said the official. He added that conditions are now becoming favourable for Monsoon 2018 to set in over Delhi-ncr. Although Monsoon 2018 has arrived late in many parts of the country, Delhi will witness Monsoon on time by June 29, with an error margin of one day.
The air quality of Delhi improved on Wednesday morning with average air quality index (AQI) at 11 am being 97, which is considered good. The PM2.5 or the particles in the air with a diameter less than 2.5mm were 48 units, while the PM10 was 89.2, both under the national permissible limit, the first time in months.
The pre-monsoon rains were likely to continue till Thursday, the Met said. The IMD could declare monsoon in Delhi anytime between June 29 to July 1, a Met official said.