Delhi records isolated rain, more in store next week

MD officials said the impact of this weather system will reduce considerably from Friday, with the maximum temperature likely to rise to 34°C by March 12 or 13

An induced cyclonic circulation over Rajasthan and a moisture trough across northwest India led to isolated rainfall in parts of the National Capital Territory on Thursday, with the Met department predicting more such spells of rain next week.

Isolated rainfall was reported from south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj and Vasant Vihar, as well as parts of Gurugram such as Alipur village, IMD officials said. (unil Ghosh/HT photo)

However, the rain on Thursday failed to bring any relief from the heat, with Delhi recording a maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius (°C) — two degrees above normal for this time of the year. It was 30.7°C on Wednesday. The minimum temperature in the Capital, meanwhile, was 16.7°C on Thursday — more than 1 degree above the 15.4°C on Wednesday and 3 degrees above normal.

IMD defines an induced cyclonic circulation as a low pressure area, generally formed south of a western disturbance . Meanwhile, a moisture trough is a horizontal line across the atmosphere, carrying more moisture than its surrounding areas.

On Thursday, isolated rainfall was reported from south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj and Vasant Vihar, as well as parts of Gurugram such as Alipur village, India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said. To be sure, none of these areas have a weather station. Southeast Delhi and parts of NCR had witnessed a similar localised spell of rain on Wednesday.

“The rainfall activity on Wednesday in NCR, mainly Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, was due to moisture being driven towards the region from Rajasthan, owing to an induced cyclonic circulation. On Wednesday, no weather station recorded any rain, but parts of southeast Delhi and Kalkaji received localised rain. On Thursday, again no station in Delhi recorded any rainfall, but localised rain was still reported from Vasant Kunj and Vasant Vihar, where there is no weather station,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

IMD officials said the impact of this weather system will reduce considerably from Friday, with the maximum temperature likely to rise to 34°C by March 12 or 13. A western disturbance is then expected to bring isolated rain and thundershowers to Delhi-NCR from March 14 onwards, with localised rain expected on a three-day stretch starting March 14.

They said clear skies are expected to prevail in Delhi till March 13, with cloudiness returning from March 14 onwards.

Srivastava said, “The next western disturbance will start impacting Jammu and Kashmir on March 13, and ultimately the northern plains from March 14. Even during that spell, we will only see isolated parts of Delhi receive some rain.”

Among Delhi’s weather stations, the highest maximum recorded across the Capital was at Sports Complex in east Delhi, where it reached 32.3°C. In terms of the minimum temperature, Sports Complex and Pitampura jointly recorded the highest minimum at 20.5°C.

According to IMD, Delhi’s long-period average (LPA) between March 7 and 11 is 28.7°C. This rises to 29.2°C between March 12 and 16, 30.6°C between March 17 and 21, 30.8°C between March 22 and 26, and 32°C in the last five days of the month.

Delhi’s warmest day of the year so far was on February 20, when the city logged a maximum of 33.6°C — the hottest February day since 1969.