New Delhi: Delhi-NCR experienced mild rainfall on Saturday, despite the onset of monsoon having been delayed. The temperatures in the city dropped by a significant 12 degrees Celsius, in just 2 hours, said the weather department.
IMD predictions on monsoon
The showers in the city were witnessed after IMD predicted an early arrival of monsoon in the city, this year. The Southwest Monsoon was expected to hit Delhi-NCR between June 19 to June 25. However, now it has been delayed. Following the delay, the IMD said that the Southwest Monsoon is now expected to cover the rest of the country in the next 2 days.
In the forecast for Sunday, the IMD predicted light to moderate rains in Delhi-NCR. The rains will be accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds which will go up to 30-40 kmph. In the next 5 days, the city will witness light rains, and no alert has been sounded by the weather agency so far for these days.
On Saturday evening the IMD had issued an orange alert for the entire Delhi-NCR. Trace rainfall was witnessed at the Safdarjung observatory. The SPS Mayur Vihar weather station logged 23 mm of rainfall on Saturday, while the Palam station recorded 9.7mm of rainfall. The Aya Nagar, Najafgarh and Pusa weather observatories recorded, 9.2mm, 2.5 mm and 0.5 mm of rainfall respectively.
In just 2 hours of rain, the temperatures in Delhi dropped by 12 degrees Celsius, as noted by the weather department. The drop in temperatures was recorded at the South Delhi stations such as Ayanagar, Pushp Vihar, and IGNOU at Maidan Garhi. Meanwhile the Central Delhi weather stations like Lodi Road, Pusa and Pragati Maidan recorded temperature drops of 5 to 7 degrees Celsius and North Delhi stations like Narela and Mungeshpur recorded drops of 2 to 3 degrees Celsius.
The maximum temperature recorded in Delhi was 36.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 28.7 degrees Celsius, which were both below normal.
Rainfall in North and Northwest India
The IMD has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in parts of Himachal Pradesh starting from June 29. They have also warned of flash floods due to rise in water levels in the rivers in the state and landslides.
Sandeep Kumar Sharma, a senior scientist, told ANI, “The state has experienced widespread rainfall over the past 24 hours, with some areas recording intense precipitation. Almost all regions in Himachal Pradesh received rainfall during the past 24 hours. The highest rainfall was recorded in Palampur at 76 mm, followed by Banjar at 75 mm. Moderate rainfall of around 55 mm was recorded in Sirmaur.People should stay away from rivers and streams; landslide risk remains high.”
As regards other states in the region. The IMD has predicted extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh on JUne 30. Isolated heavy rains are also expected in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh from June 28 to July 4. Apart from the hill states, heavy rains are also expected to hit Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, said the weather department.
West Rajasthan may witness heavy rains on July 3 and 4 and East Rajasthan from July 1 to July 4. Very heavy showers are predicted for Punjab on June 29, Punjab and Haryana on 2 days, June 29 and June 30. UP will witness very heavy showers on June 29 and then again on July 1-2, While the same weather phenomenon will be observed in East Rajasthan on July 3-4, according to the predictions of the weather department.
Throughout the week, light to moderate rains are expected to hit Northwest India. The rains will be accompanied by thunderstorms and wind speeds can go up to 30-40 kmph, said the IMD.
Rains in East and Central India
In Eastern and Central India, isolated rainfall is expected in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha from June 28 to July 4. Vidarbha may experience rains on July 1 and 2. Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim are likely to witness heavy rains from June 30 to July 2.
Bihar may experience heavy rains starting June 29 and this will continue till July 4. Very heavy rains are forecast for West Madhya Pradesh on July 1 and July 2, while East Madhya Pradesh will witness similar conditions from July 1 to July 4. Chhattisgarh is also expected to experience very heavy rains on July 1-2. Gangetic West Bengal is expected to witness heavy rains on 2 days, June 29-30, while Jharkhand will witness heavy rains starting June 29 and it is expected to continue till July 1.