The India Meteorological Department has said that Delhi was not likely to receive any more rainfall this month, PTI reported on Thursday.
The Capital has only received rainfall only thrice in September, the lowest since 2016, when there were only two rainy days. Further, it has recorded 81% less rainfall in September so far, according to the weather agency’s data.
The last time it rained in Delhi was on September 8, according to the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city. The city had recorded 1.3 mm of rainfall on the day.
“The monsoon is likely to start withdrawing from Rajasthan on September 26,” Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the India Meteorological Department’s regional forecasting centre, said. “Thereafter, it will recede from Delhi, Haryana, west Uttar Pradesh simultaneously by September last week.”
The temperature was also likely to rise for the next few days in absence of rain, the weather agency said. On Wednesday, the maximum temperature was 36.5 degrees Celsius.
Delhi has recorded 20.9 mm rainfall this month so far against 109.3 mm, which is the normal for September, according to the Safdarjung Observatory.
In contrast, the Captial recorded 237 mm rainfall in August, which is the highest in seven years.
The city has received 576.5 mm rainfall overall, a decline of 9%, since the monsoon season began on June 1. The overall average rainfall of the city is 633.1 mm.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has predicted very heavy rainfall in parts of West Bengal, Northeastern states, Konkan, east Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for the next 2-3 days, Hindustan Times reported. West Bengal and several areas of the west coast, including Mumbai and Konkan, received heavy rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Jalpaiguri and Bagdogra in West Bengal recorded 18 cm of rainfall each. In Mumbai on Tuesday night, Bandra Kurla Complex received 37 cm rainfall, followed by Dharavi, which recorded 36 cm of rainfall, Panvel with 31 cm and Santacruz with 29 cm. The rain triggered flooding in the city and disrupted traffic.
Most of the rainfall was recorded within 12 hours between Tuesday night and Wednesday early morning, according to scientists of the weather agency.
“There is a convergence of strong moist southerly and south-westerly winds from the Bay of Bengal over the north-east and adjoining eastern India,” K Sathi Devi, head of India Meteorological Department’s national weather forecasting centre, said. “This is the reason behind the region receiving heavy rainfall. There is a low-pressure system lying over central parts of western Madhya Pradesh which is likely to re-curve towards UP [Uttar Pradesh] in the next couple of days and bring in widespread rainfall.”
In September, rains in India declined by 0.6%. However, the country has recorded 8.1% additional rainfall since the monsoon season, according to the weather forecasting agency.
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