Bringing massive respite to the scorched national capital by lowering the maximum temperature seven notches below normal, the Southwest Monsoon arrived in Delhi on Thursday with a bang, poured over 100 mm in central Delhi during the day.
For the 12 hours between 8.30 a.m. and 8.30 p.m., Safdarjung, the city’s base station, recorded 116.6 mm rainfall while Lodhi Road recorded 107.6 mm rainfall for the same duration. Other stations too recorded heavy rainfall during this same period but nothing comparable to these two central Delhi locations. Aya Nagar in South Delhi recorded 51.9 mm, Palam near the IGI Airport recorded 31.8 mm, while Ridge in north Delhi recorded 65.2 mm rainfall in these 12 hours.
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Prior to that, Safdarjung had recorded ‘trace’ rainfall till 8.30 a.m., Palam had received 4.4 mm, Lodhi Road recorded ‘trace’, Ridge observatory recorded ‘trace’ while Aya Nagar had witnessed 0.3 mm till 8.30 a.m., IMD data showed.
Maximum temperature in Delhi fell down to 29.4 degrees Celsius, as many as 7 notches below normal, bringing it almost on par with the minimum temperature which remained at 27.6 degrees Celsius. IMD forecast for Friday said moderate rain/thunder showers are likely with maximum and minimum temperatures to be 32 and 24 degrees Celsius, respectively.
"Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into entire Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, some parts of Rajasthan, entire Delhi, some parts of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh, today. The Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM) now passes through Deesa, Ratlam, Jaipur, Rohtak, Pathankot and Jammu," the India Meteorological Department said, adding, "Conditions are now favourable for further advance of monsoon into some more parts of Rajasthan, entire Punjab and Haryana during next 24 hours."
However, Delhi’s total rainfall for the month of June has been recorded at just 20.3 mm against the normal of 66.5 mm (minus 70 per cent, or a large deficit). This is so because, for any given day, the IMD counts rainfall after 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. So, the 100 plus mm rainfall on Thursday will be counted for July 1.
Earlier this week, with the Southwest Monsoon proceeding slower than normal, it had missed its date with Delhi. The normal date of arrival of monsoon over Delhi is June 27, shifted from June 29 two years ago, based on correction provided by long term data.
However, this is not the first time that the monsoon has missed its date with Delhi. Last year, the monsoon reached Delhi on July 10, making it the most delayed in 19 years. In 2020, it was two days before time, on June 25.
The most delayed monsoon arrival over Delhi - that crossed over to July - include July 19 in 2002 and July 9 in 2006 but it was in 1987 that Delhi had witnessed the most late monsoon arrival on July 26.
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