NEW DELHI: This August has seen a major rainfall deficit with not a single heavy spell of rain occurring so far with just 10 days left for the month to end. Only light and scattered showers have been observed in Delhi- NCR, which has been reeling under hot and humid conditions throughout the month barring a few days.
No strong weather system, only few Western Disturbances and the monsoon trough mostly remaining positioned in central parts of the country are some of the major factors for scant rainfall this month, said weather officials.
As per India Meteorological Data (IMD), August so far has only 27.1 mm rainfall against the normal count (till August 20) of 158.5 mm, which renders a massive deficit of 83 per cent. The normal monthly rainfall count for August is 247.7 mm.
Also, there is no or little possibility of any good rain in the city over the next week, at least till August 25, which leaves only five-days to a week for any major rain activity to occur to make up for the deficit, said officials.
Since June 1 (when the monsoon season officially begins) till date, Delhi has recorded a cumulative rainfall of 337.9 mm, around 24 per cent short of the normal seasonal count of 442.3mm till this time of the year.
Only July saw surplus rain with some heavy spells while June ended with a deficit of 67 per cent. IMD considers the official monsoon season from June 1 to September 30. Of this, July and August are considered to be the rainiest months.
“This is despite the fact that July ended with surplus rain owing to two heavy spells during the month. The rain distribution has been uneven, both throughout the month as well as across the city with some parts getting short and intense spells while others being left dried up. This trend has been there throughout the season and has almost become usual for the past few years, mainly owing to rapid urbanization and large increase in paved area in the urban setting,” said a senior IMD official.
As per IMD, Northeast Delhi has seen the largest rainfall deficit this monsoon, being 54 per cent short of the long period average .West Delhi had a similar deficit of around 53 per cent. East Delhi is the only district to have recorded excess rainfall so far this season receiving 600.9 mm against a normal of 463.3 mm, 30 per cent above the long period average.