Rains deceive Delhi; sultry conditions add to people's woes

Sultry weather added to the discomfiture of Delhi residents on Monday morning as the monsoon rains continued to elude the capital.

Weather scientists had predicted moderate rains on the weekend. Though the city remained swallowed up in dark clouds, the rains kept the residents waiting.

On Sunday, the weather station at Palam recorded 21.6 mm precipitation. The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides official figures for the city, recorded 0.8 mm rains till 8:30 am on Monday.

A low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal was expected to enhance rains in the northern region. However, it remained concentrated in eastern parts of the country, Mahesh Palawat of Skymet Weather said.

He said the axis of monsoon trough currently lies along Rajasthan, north Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal. Its western end will shift towards the Delhi-NCR region Tuesday onwards.

Easterly winds are blowing in Delhi because it lies in north of the monsoon trough. These winds have humidity high content and therefore, localised showers expected in isolated pockets on Monday, the senior scientist said.

Rainfall is likely to enhance on Tuesday and Wednesday but typical monsoon showers will continue to remain absent till next Monday, he said.

Earlier, the weather department had predicted one or two spells of intense rains in the city on Monday and Tuesday.

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 remained dry.

Another prediction of heavy rainfall at isolated places in the city on August 1 went the opposite way.

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 of 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 Monday morning, the city recorded a low of 27.2 degrees Celsius and humidity levels at 85 per cent.

Delhi has recorded just 1.2 mm of rain against the 30-year average of 49.3 mm -- a shortfall of 98 per cent -- in August so far.

The city gauged 199.2 mm rains in July, which is five per cent less than the long-term average of 210.6 mm.

Overall, it has received 211.6 mm of precipitation against the long-term average of 325.4 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season starts, a deficiency of around 35 per cent, IMD data showed.