Delhi Weather Update: Rains Drench National Capital for 2nd Consecutive Day; IMD Sounds Orange Alert
Delhi has recorded 16 rainy days this month so far. The monsoon, which arrived here on July 13, making it the most-delayed in 19 years, is now drenching Delhi, flooding low-lying areas and causing long traffic snarls. Normally, Delhi records 210.6 mm precipitation in July.
New Delhi, July 28: Rain drenched the national capital for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, keeping the mercury in check. More showers are likely on Thursday, with the weather department issuing an orange alert, warning of “major traffic disruption on roads, increased chance of vehicle accidents and accumulation of water in low-lying areas".
MeT officials said Delhi is in for a week-long spell of "light to moderate" rain with the monsoon trough passing through the region. The Safdarjung Observatory, considered the official marker for the city, recorded 4.1 mm rainfall between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm.
The weather station recorded a maximum temperature of 27.6 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal. Palam, Lodi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar weather stations recorded 26.8 mm, 6 mm, 32.6 mm and 22.4 mm rainfall, respectively.
Rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered ‘light', between 15 and 64.5 mm is ‘moderate', between 64.5 mm and 115.5 mm is ‘heavy', between 115.6 and 204.4 is ‘very heavy'. Anything above 204.4 mm is considered ‘extremely heavy rainfall'. Monsoon 2021 Forecast: Heavy Rainfall To Lash Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Parts of North India Today.
The city has received 386.3 mm rainfall this month so far, which is 103 per cent more than the normal of 190.4 mm rainfall. This is the highest precipitation for July since 2003 and the second-highest ever. On Tuesday morning (before 8:30 am), Safdarjung gauged 100 mm rainfall in just three hours.
Delhi has recorded 16 rainy days this month so far. The monsoon, which arrived here on July 13, making it the most-delayed in 19 years, is now drenching Delhi, flooding low-lying areas and causing long traffic snarls.
Normally, Delhi records 210.6 mm precipitation in July.
The city had recorded 236.9 mm rainfall last year, 199.2 mm in 2019 and 286.2 mm in 2018. In 2013, Delhi had received 340.5 mm rainfall. The all-time record is 632.2 mm precipitation in July, 2003, according to the IMD data.
According to Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (meteorology), Skymet Weather, the number of rainy days has reduced over the last few years, and extreme weather events have increased.
"Cities are recording more rainfall in a shorter period of time. Earlier, 100 mm rainfall would occur over three to four days. Now, we have been receiving this much precipitation in just five-six hours,” he said. Such spells of rain do not help recharge groundwater and lead to flooding in low-lying areas, Palawat said.
The water percolates in the ground if it rains slowly over four to five days. In case of heavy falls, the rainwater runs off quickly, the official added. The IMD uses four colour codes: Green means all is well; yellow indicates severely bad weather. It also suggests that the weather could change for the worse, causing disruption in day-to-day activities.
Orange alert is issued as a warning for extremely bad weather with the potential of disruption in commute with road and drain closures and interruption of power supply. Red is when extremely bad weather conditions are certainly going to disrupt travel and power and have significant risk to life.
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