Delhi feels wind in its hair: Moist easterlies on cloudy day cool city

The Capital woke up to overcast, windy conditions on Tuesday. The clouds made way to sunshine in parts but returned in the afternoon, bringing rain in isolated parts of the capital.

A strong atmospheric depression over northwest Madhya Pradesh and central Rajasthan made its influence felt in the Capital, sending moist easterly winds that led to overcast skies in the morning, gusty winds that reached speeds of 55km per hour in places, and short but intense spells of rain.

Delhi is unlikely to see showers in the next three days, the weather bureau said, with rain returning to the Capital from August 20, once the monsoon trough shifts closer towards northern India again. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The depression gradually weakened on Tuesday evening, and that could mean less rainfall on Wednesday,the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, adding that the skies could remain overcast.

The Capital woke up to overcast, windy conditions on Tuesday. The clouds made way to sunshine in parts but returned in the afternoon, bringing rain in isolated parts of the capital.

“Despite central Rajasthan being around 400km away from Delhi, these easterly winds were prominent and were able to reach all the way up to the capital, bringing rain in some parts and winds that touched 55km per hour at the Palam observatory,” said RK Jenamani, a scientist at the weather office. “The closer the proximity to the depression, the stronger the winds.”

Delhi saw showers mainly due to convective clouds, said Mahesh Palawat, vice president Skymet Weather Services, a private forecaster. Convective clouds are those that form quickly in a few hours through a combination of strong sunshine and high humidity.

“Owing to this depression, the south-easterly winds were strong and moisture was also present, which led to these dark grey clouds forming. However, parts of Delhi still had sunshine, which led to the formation of convective clouds that brought short spells of intense rain,” Palawat said. “These convective clouds kept generating and degenerating, which led to Delhi seeing cloudy skies and sun in parts. This depression, in addition to sending moisture, also led to strong winds, but the intensity of the depression will reduce considerably by Wednesday.”

Delhi is unlikely to see showers in the next three days, the weather bureau said, with rain returning to the Capital from August 20, once the monsoon trough shifts closer towards northern India again.

“The intensity and spread of rain on Tuesday would have been more if the monsoon trough was closer to Delhi,” a Met department official said, declining to be named. “It is currently over central India, but should make a return towards northern India by August 20 or 21, when a return in rain is expected.”

After experiencing above-average rains in July, Delhi has fallen back to recording a rainfall deficit of nearly 54% in the first half of August, weather department data show.

Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 33.1 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, one degree below normal, while the minimum was 27 degrees, around normal for this time of the year. Safdarjung, the base weather station for Delhi, received 2.2mm of rainfall between 8:30am and 5:30pm on Tuesday, while Ayanagar received 6.8mm.

The forecast for Wednesday shows no rain, with the maximum and minimum temperature hovering around 35 degrees and 26 degrees respectively.