Even as relatively high levels of humidity caused much discomfort to the people, heavy rain is expected to drench the Capital by Friday. The Met Department officials said the rain would last for at least three days. They, however, said the ongoing dry spell was not unusual as the city had witnessed similar conditions in 2002 as well.
“There is low pressure over North-West Madhya Pradesh which is inching towards the North. It will reach Delhi in a day or two,” said Rajendra Jenamani, scientist at the Met Department. He further said that the Western Disturbance is also heading towards the Capital from Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir, which will also bring in heavy showers. “Moderate to heavy showers will occur by the evening of July 5. This weather condition will continue till July 7. There will be rainfall of 40-60 mm,” informed an official.
With heavy rain on June 16, onset of monsoon was declared in the national Capital. Despite witnessing one of the earliest monsoons in over a decade, heavy rain lashed the city only on the first two days. Since then, sporadic and light rain occurred only in a few areas of the Capital. Explaining the reason behind this, an official said, “There was no system like a Western Disturbance or low pressure all this while. Moreover, Westerly winds were blowing across the city which now, has been replaced by Easterly winds that carry moisture. However, now a new system is developing which will bring in rain.”
The Met Department had also predicted heavy showers on June 25, but hot and sultry weather conditions continued to prevail. To the officials, the sweltering heat pitched with high humidity levels is, but natural. “Every monsoon has its own phases. It has been a dry and weak phase so far. Rain does not occur continuously, rather takes place in cycles. However, if we see the record for this season, North India so far has received excessive rain,” informed an official.
On Wednesday, while the maximum temperature was recorded at 35.2 degrees Celsius, the minimum settled at 26.9 degrees Celsius. Both the temperatures were, however, a notch below normal. The humidity level fluctuated between 89 and 60 per cent, whereas rain recorded at 8:30 am and 5:30 pm were 1.7 mm and 0.8 mm respectively.