NEW DELHI: After a hot and humid day that saw the mercury cross 40 degrees, Delhi recorded a change in weather on Friday evening with gusty winds of over 40 km/hr, accompanied by rain, striking the capital.
Track the pollution level in your citySo far this month, Delhi has had a 34% deficit with less than 30mm of rainfall received.
India Meteorological Department has forecast chances of very light rain on both Saturday and Sunday as well, while the rest of the month is unlikely to see any rain.
Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD, said the onset of monsoon was unlikely till July 1.
“Friday’s rain activity was due to a cyclonic circulation forming at the lower levels, near Haryana.
There is already a western disturbance trough from Jammu and Kashmir to Rajasthan and with moisture in the air, most parts of Delhi received thunderstorm activity and rain,” said Srivastava.
“So far, there has been a rain deficit as the monsoon has not progressed as expected.
There could be isolated drizzle activity over the weekend too, but nothing major is expected,” he added.
The normal rainfall mark for June is 65.5mm.
Delhi last year recorded 81.8mm of rainfall in June, after an early onset of monsoon.
While the normal date for monsoon to hit Delhi is June 27, last year, it reached Delhi by June 25.
Delhi’s maximum temperature was recorded at 40.1 degrees Celsius.
The relative humidity, meanwhile, oscillated between 33 and 77 per cent.
Met officials say humidity will continue to remain high in the next week.
Delhi’s air quality is also expected to improve marginally after Friday’s rain with the air quality index (AQI) on Friday recorded at 163, which is classified as ‘moderate’.
Agencies say while ventilation is favourable for dispersion, long-range transport of dust may still occur in the next three days.
“Isolated rainfall is likely in the next two days.
Aerosol washout may influence Air quality index marginally and it is likely to stay in the ‘moderate’ category with PM10 as the lead pollutant for the next three days,” said SAFAR, a body under Union ministry of earth sciences.