Alerts for thunderstorm, rainfall in Delhi till Friday

Delhi has already logged 186.4mm rainfall till May 28, making it the wettest May ever for Delhi on record. The previous record was 165mm, clocked in May 2008

New Delhi

A group of women don hats on a sunny afternoon, at Qutub Minar. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

May is expected to end on a wet and stormy note, with a western disturbance approaching northwest India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday, while issuing a “yellow” alert for Thursday and an “orange” alert for Friday. The weather department said light rain and gusty winds up to 60km/hr on Thursday may be followed by light to moderate rain and gusty winds up to 70km/hr on Friday.

“A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from May 29. Under its influence, light to moderate rainfall, accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning and winds gusting up to 70km/hr are likely on both Thursday and Friday,” an IMD official said, adding there is a likelihood the monthly rainfall will cross the 200mm mark.

Delhi has already logged 186.4mm rainfall till May 28, making it the wettest May ever for Delhi on record. The previous record was 165mm, clocked in May 2008.

The Capital did not receive any rain until 8.30pm on Wednesday, however, the IMD had issued a yellow alert during the afternoon, forecasting a possible spell of light rain and gusty winds of up to 50km/hr at night.

The city has already witnessed five significant storms this month.

On May 2, Delhi’s base weather station at Safdarjung recorded 77mm of rainfall, a dust storm, and winds up to 80km/hr. On May 17, thunderstorm winds touched 74km/hr alongside light rain. On May 15, the third major storm saw dust-raising winds of 40-50km/hr, slashing visibility to 1200-1500 metres for nearly 12 hours and spiking particulate matter. The fourth storm hit on May 21, unleashing winds of 79km/hr and a short but intense spell of rainfall, measuring 12 mm. The most recent episode was on May 25, with winds of 82km/hr and heavy rainfall of 81.4 mm sweeping through the city.

On Wednesday, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 38.6 degrees Celsius (°C), which was two degrees below normal. It was 37.4°C a day earlier. The relative humidity oscillated between 48% and 85% on Wednesday.

The forecast for Thursday shows humidity will remain high, with a maximum temperature of 38-40°C. Thunderstorms and rainfall are likely towards the evening and night-time, according to IMD.

On Tuesday, IMD issued its monsoon forecast, stating the country will receive above-normal rainfall from June to September—106% of the long-period average (LPA). It said that while normal monsoon—92-108% of the LPA—is expected in northwest India during this period, Delhi, Chandigarh and Haryana will see above-normal monsoon of 114% of the LPA.

The normal monsoon mark for the Delhi-Chandigarh and Haryana subdivisions is 431mm.

Usually, monsoon hits Delhi on June 27, but it is currently advancing faster than average levels. It reached Kerala on May 24, a week before its normal date of June 1 and its onset was declared on May 26 over Mumbai, weeks ahead of its normal date of June 11. The IMD did not specify when it may touch Delhi this year. “We are closely monitoring the progress,” an IMD official said.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the “moderate” range, deteriorating marginally in the past 24 hours. The air quality index (AQI) was 151 (“moderate”) at 4pm. It was 133 (“moderate”) a day earlier at the same time.

Forecasts by the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi show AQI is expected to remain “moderate” until Friday at least.