Monsoon hit the Capital a fortnight early on Sunday, catching Delhiites by surprise.With heavy rains lashing all parts of the city, the national Capital witnessed one of its earliest monsoons in its history of over half a century.It is only for the fourth time in the last 53 years that monsoon has arrived in Delhi by the second week of June.
“The earliest monsoon so far in the Capital was in the year 1960 on June 9. It was followed by the year 2008 when monsoon had arrived in the Capital on June 15. In the year 1998, it had come on June 16. This year, for the fourth time, monsoons has again arrived relatively earlier on the same date as in the year 1998,” said BP Yadav, Director, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
The most delayed arrival of monsoon was in the year 1987 on July 26.Early monsoon this year comes after an excessively long dry spell in the months of May-June that was also the longest in the last one decade. According to the weather department, the pre-monsoon rains this year have also been 30 per cent higher than normal.
Declaring the arrival of monsoon in the city, a senior Met official said: "Heavy rains lashed Delhi along with other parts of northern India. This has marked the beginning of the monsoon season which is much before the scheduled date of June 29."
As the monsoon reached the city ahead of schedule, many people were caught unawares and were seen taking shelter under trees and awnings in many places. Commuters were at the receiving end due to water-logging in various places.
However, the denizens of the city are not complaining as the rains brought respite from the scorching heat as the temperature went down drastically on Sunday.
"The day started with a cool morning where the minimum temperature was 23.7 degree Celsius which was four notches below average. The maximum temperature was 34 degree Celsius," the official said.
South-west monsoon, which kept its June 1 date with Kerala, made rapid progress across the country bringing bountiful showers all along and giving relief to most drought-hit regions. Yadav said the rain would continue for the entire week and the monsoon would stay till September.
Moderate to heavy rains that had begun by Saturday evening, continued on Sunday. "The city received a rainfall of around 36.6 millilitre (mm) since 8:30 in the morning. The humidity level was high at 79 per cent," said the official.
The average rainfall received by the Capital during monsoon is 645.7 mm. According to the Met department, rains and thunderstorms are likely to occur in the next two days, and the sky would be partly cloudy on June 19.
On Monday the maximum and minimum temperature will be around 31 degrees Celsius to 24 degrees Celsius in the Capital.
On Saturday, the maximum and minimum temperatures were 37.2 degrees Celsius and 26.4 degrees Celsius respectively, both two notches below average for this time of the year.
Met officials said last year, the onset of monsoon was delayed by eight days. It had reached Delhi ahead of schedule in 2011 (June 26), but arrived late in 2010 (July five). While the earliest onset of monsoon in last 30 years in the Capital was recorded in 2008 (June 15), the most delayed arrival occurred in 1987 (July 26).