New Delhi: The "break monsoon" phase in Delhi and adjoining areas in northwest India is likely to continue till August 18 and “good rainfall” in the last 10 days of the month is expected to cover the precipitation deficit in the capital, weather forecasters said on Saturday. The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the capital, has recorded a meagre 63.2mm rainfall in August so far against the normal of 123.1 mm -- a shortfall of 49 per cent -- according to the India Meteorological Department.
Normally, the capital gauges 247.7mm rainfall in August. The IMD had earlier predicted normal rainfall for Delhi this month. The “break monsoon” phase, the second this season, started on August 10 and is likely to continue till August 18, said Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather.
“The 'break monsoon' phase got extended in the absence of any favourable weather system which would have pulled the monsoon trough from the foothills of the Himalayas towards the plains.
"However, a low-pressure system is developing in the Bay of Bengal. It will travel in the west direction to south Madhya Pradesh and pull the monsoon trough, leading to rains in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and west Uttar Pradesh from August 19,” Palawat said.