Fresh spell of rains in Delhi starting Wednesday

Delhi is in for another spell of rains which will reduce rainfall deficiency and keep the mercury within comfortable levels, the weather department said on Tuesday.

Mahesh Palawat of Skymet Weather said that at present, the axis of monsoon trough is over west Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It will start shifting towards north on Wednesday.

Patchy rains for short durations are likely on Wednesday. Moderate showers are expected on Thursday and Friday. On and off rain will continue till August 5, he said.

The India Metereological Department has forecast heavy rains at isolated places in Delhi on Thursday.

The city has not witnessed a single spell of heavy rains this monsoon season. Though the IMD had issued an alert for intense showers on July 25 and 26, vast stretches of the city had remained dry.

On July 22, the Safdarjung observatory recorded 50.2 mm rainfall, the heaviest in the monsoon season this year. The weather station at Palam gauged 61 mm precipitation on July 18.

More than 65 mm precipitation at any place is considered heavy rain.

Palawat said a combination of weather systems leads to heavy showers.

"Heavy rains take place when a western disturbance, cyclonic circulation, easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal or southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea combine with the monsoon trough," he explained.

On Tuesday, the city recorded a high of 35.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the normal, and a low of 27.4 degrees Celsius. Humidity levels oscillated between 63 and 88 per cent.

Scattered spells of very light rains are predicted on Tuesday.

Delhi has recorded 199.2 mm rains from July 1 to July 30, which is around 1 per less than the 30-year average of 201.1 mm, officials said.

Overall, it has received 210.4 mm precipitation against the long-term average of 266.8 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season starts, a deficiency of around 21 per cent, IMD data showed.