NEW DELHI: After a heavy downpour on Tuesday that caused widespread waterlogging and traffic disruptions, the capital received light, localised rain on Wednesday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Traffic remained largely unaffected due to a public holiday and lighter precipitation. However, the weather department issued a yellow alert for Wednesday evening and night, warning of thunderstorms, lightning, and light-to-moderate rainfall.
The city has already crossed its seasonal average rainfall of 640.4 mm usually recoded between June 1 and September 31, with the city recording 653.9 mm of rain to date against the normal 484.6 mm, a surplus of 169.3 mm or 35%.
Among major weather stations, Palam has recorded 533.2 mm against a normal of 462 mm, a surplus of 71.2 mm, or 15%. The Ridge has recorded 692.3 mm against a normal of 421.6 mm, marking a surplus of 270.7 mm or 64%.
In the 24 hours period till 8.30 am on Wednesday, the city’s base station at Safdarjung recorded 8.8 mm of rainfall. Palam recorded 5.6 mm, Lodi Road 0.5 mm, Ridge 3.2 mm and Ayanagar 1.5 mm during the period.
The weather on Wednesday remained generally cloudy through the day, with intermittent showers reported in some parts of the city. According to Skymet, the monsoon trough, which usually brings rain, has shifted far north of Delhi. It currently stretches through Jammu, Pathankot, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, and Lucknow into the Bay of Bengal.
At the same time, a low-pressure system over northeast Madhya Pradesh and nearby Uttar Pradesh will drift west-northwest for few days. This will keep the rain system away with the city and its adjoining areas receiving very little or no rain for the rest of August.
The maximum temperature at Safdarjung settled at 33.8 degrees Celsius, 0.3 degrees below normal, and the minimum temperature at Safdarjung was 26.5 degrees Celsius, 0.1 degree above normal. The weather department suggests that the maximum temperature in the city may rise to around 36°C over the weekend.
Rain havoc in Lutyens’
A large tree fell inside Vitthal Bhai Patel House in Lutyens’ Delhi on Wednesday morning, damaging at least four vehicles parked nearby amid heavy rainfall in the national capital over the past two days, officials said. The tree fell with its trunk and branches damaging the cars, their windscreens and caving in their roofs. No injuries were reported, officials said.
