Delhi experiences pleasant weather, rains bring down season's deficit to 47 pc

Overcast skies and intermittent rains made way for pleasant weather in the national capital on Wednesday.

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides official figures for the city, reported 21.6 mm rains till 8.30 am.

Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, it measured 1.2 mm precipitation.

The weather stations at Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar received 3.8, 0.7, 6.8 and 2 mm rainfall respectively.

The city recorded a high of 31.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, and a minimum temperature of 24.2 degrees Celsius.

Humidity levels oscillated between 60 and 100 per cent.

Delhi has recorded 77.6 mm rains from July 1 to July 17, which is 25 per cent less than the 30-year average of 103.2 mm, officials said.

Overall, it has received 88.8 mm precipitation against the long-term average of 168.7 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season starts -- a deficiency of 47 per cent, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

Kuldeep Srivastava, senior scientist at the IMD, said, "Light rains are expected on Thursday too. Thereafter, monsoon will become weak in the plains of northwest India, resulting in a dry spell from July 20 to 23."