After 110 dry days, the national Capital received 3.0 mm rainfall, finally a rainy day on Sunday as the minimum temperature settled at 6.4 degrees Celsius. Delhi usually gets around 17 mm of rain in January.
This, however, is the first rainfall of the winter season, which has been among the driest in the past decade. More rain is expected on Monday. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi usually gets around 17 mm of rain in January. The last rainy day was recorded on October 11, 2022. A rainy day is considered when rainfall is above 2. mm in 24 hour. After touching 10 degrees Celsius last week, morning temperatures in Delhi dipped again, with the minimum temperature on Sunday recorded as 6.4 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal. Cold winds also swept through the national capital region on Sunday. The IMD said an intense western disturbance over Afghanistan and the neighbouring area is the reason behind the rain in Delhi. A more intense western disturbance will be active in the area on Monday, bringing more rainfall. After a brief respite from cold wave conditions, parts of north India are set to witness a temperature drop in the coming days.
The city has been staring at a rain deficit of 100% since November last year. No rain activity was recorded in November and December. The city has seen only traces of rain on seven days in January so far. As the western disturbances, which impacted the plains, were feeble, rain eluded Delhi for over three months. According to IMD’s data, Safdarjung has reported a rain deficit of 100% in this month till Saturday as against the normal mark of 16.9mm. In contrast, January 2022 saw an excess rainfall of 306% as the month logged 88.2mm rainfall compared with the month’s normal of 21.7mm. Similarly, January 2021 recorded 56.6mm rainfall, making it an excess rainfall of 161%.
The weather system is likely to cause “light/moderate rainfall/snowfall at most places with isolated heavy falls over western Himalayan region during the next two days; light/moderate rainfall at some/many places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan during the same period.
Isolated very light rainfall/drizzle would also occur over Delhi on Sunday and Monday morning,” officials said. On Saturday, the minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 6.1 degrees Celsius and the maximum at 23.8 degrees Celsius.
