Delhi: Pre-monsoon showers bring mercury down

Maximum temperatures dropped by four to five degrees Celsius at most places in Delhi following a spell of rain on Friday.

New Delhi: Maximum temperatures dropped by four to five degrees Celsius at most places in Delhi following a spell of rain on Friday. The Safdarjung Observatory, the city's base station, recorded 11.9 mm of rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm. The maximum temperature settled at 36.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below the average. It was 40.2 degrees Celsius on Thursday.

Most weather stations in Delhi recorded maximum temperatures below 38 degrees Celsius. Palam, Lodhi Road and Ayanagar recorded 5.2 mm, 5.6 mm and 5.2 mm of rainfall respectively in eight hours ending 5.30 pm. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said scattered to fairly widespread rainfall is likely in Delhi in the next four days under the influence of a western disturbance at middle tropospheric levels and southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea at lower tropospheric levels.

It has issued a yellow alert, warning of thundershowers or light rain, for four days starting Saturday. The mercury is predicted to drop to 35 degrees Celsius on Saturday. The IMD uses four colour codes for weather warnings: green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action). The weather will become clear after June 22 and dry westerly winds will commence but a steep rise in temperature is not predicted.

GP Sharma, president (meteorology), Skymet Weather said a cyclonic circulation will come up over parts of West Bengal, north Odisha and adjoining Bangladesh and it will change the wind pattern in the Indo-Gangetic plains. "This cyclonic circulation will initiate the typical easterly flow which is crucial for the progress of the monsoon towards northwest India. The monsoon will reach Delhi around the usual date (June 27), a day before or a day later," he said.

Last year, the IMD had forecast that the monsoon would arrive in Delhi nearly two weeks before its usual date. However, it reached the capital only on July 13, making it the most delayed in 19 years. The capital has recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius and above on 27 days so far this summer season, the highest number of such days since 2012, according to IMD data. In 2012, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius or above on 30 days. The number of such days was 35 in 2010, the highest in the 1951-2022 period, the data showed. (PTI)