Cyclone Tauktae coupled with a western disturbance has led to incessant rain in Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Delhi.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly has received 146 mm highest rainfall; Uttarakhand’s Nainital 132 mm of rainfall, followed by Delhi which received 119.3 mm; Jhajjar 117 mm; Gurgaon 115 mm and Dholpur in Rajasthan 103 mm in the last 24 hours.
The IMD data says that Jaipur has received 80 mm rainfall, Meerut 85.9 mm, Varanasi 82.8 mm, Meewat in Haryana 84 mm, Mussoorie 103 mm and Mukteshwar 85 mm.
According to the IMD, Delhi received the highest-ever rainfall of 119.3 mm in May for the first time since 1951. The perpetual rainfall was due to the impact of cyclonic storm Tauktae and a western disturbance ending 8.30am on Thursday. This was double the previous record rainfall received by Delhi on May 24, 1976, which was 60 mm. A record 119.3 mm rain fell in Delhi between 8.30am on Wednesday and 8.30am on Thursday, which is a new record for May,” Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of IMD’s regional forecasting Centre, said.
In Uttarakhand, the IMD has warned of more rain in few districts including Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Tehri, Pauri, Bageshwar, Nainital, Almora and Champawat. The upper Himalayan regions of the state, including Badrinath in Chamoli district and Kedarnath in Rudraprayag, also received snowfall.
Rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered light, while that recorded between 15 mm and 64.5 mm is moderate. If recorded between 64.5 mm and 115.5 mm, it is heavy and between 115.6 mm and 204.4 mm is considered very heavy. Rainfall above 204.4 mm is considered extremely heavy rainfall.
Meanwhile, southwest monsoon is very likely to advance over south Andaman Sea and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal around May 21, one day in advance in association with the strengthening and deepening of southwesterly winds over the region.
Meanwhile, the IMD has warned that it can’t rule out the possibility of a new cyclone heading towards the Eastern seaboard of India, Cyclone Yaas, intensifying like Cyclone Amphan.
“A low pressure area over north Andaman Sea and adjoining eastcentral Bay of Bengal is very likely to intensify into a Cyclonic storm by May 25. It’ll move northwestwards and reach near Odisha-West Bengal coasts around May 26 morning”, the IMD said.
Last year in May, India saw the formation of two cyclones, Amphan on the Eastern coast and Nisarga on the Western coast. A UN report released last month calculated that Amphan caused more than $14 billion worth of economic damage in India alone.