Mild rain relief for Lucknow, 51 UP districts face monsoon blues

Forecast suggests rainfall will remain largely below normal in remaining August and September; IMD issues yellow alert of high probability of heavy rainfall in 40 districts

LUCKNOW After a dry and sweltering spell spanning several days, early morning showers on Monday brought much-needed relief to residents of Lucknow. The city recorded 16.1 mm of rainfall, marginally reducing its seasonal rain deficit from 45% to 42% in a single day.

Lightning illuminates the skyline in Lucknow on Monday. (Deepak Gupta/HT Photo)

Despite the pleasant dip in humidity, meteorological data indicated that the state capital is still falling significantly short of its seasonal expectations. According to the Regional Meteorological Centre in Lucknow, the city recorded only 196.7 mm of rainfall since June 1, starkly below the long-period average of 338.9 mm. With a rain deficit of 42%, Lucknow falls under rain deficient category.

Moderate rainfall of 34.2 mm was recorded at Amausi Observatory till 8:30 am, 29 mm at Hanuman Setu, 12.5 mm at Malihabad, 6.6 mm at Lucknow Control room, according to the Regional Meteorological Centre, Lucknow.

For Tuesday, IMD issued a yellow alert of high probability of heavy rainfall in 40 districts including Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Banda, Chitrakoot, Prayagraj, Pratapgarh, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Ballia, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Mathura, Hathras, Kasganj, Etah, Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Badaun, and surrounding areas.

A yellow alert for high probability of thunderstorms and lightning was issued for 55 districts including Lucknow, Barabanki, Gonda, Kannauj, Unnao, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura, Hathras, Kasganj, Etah, Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Sambhal, Badaun, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jhansi, Lalitpur, and surrounding areas.

As many as 51 out of 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh face below normal to excessively below normal rainfall because of El Nino effect that is proactive all throughout this monsoon season. IMD forecast suggests rainfall will remain largely below normal in remaining August and September.

As many as 14 UP districts are under largely deficient category (minus 60% to minus 99%). These are: Amethi, Bhadohi, Deoria, Fatehpur, Jaunpur, Kanpur Dehat, Kaushambi, Kushinagar, Mau, Amroha, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Pilibhit, Shamli.

Another 37 districts fall under deficient category (minus 20% to minus 59%): Lucknow, Ayodhya, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Banda, Basti, Chandauli, Farrukhabad, Gonda, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Hardoi, Kannauj, Prayagraj, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Sant Kabir Nagar, Shravasti, Siddharthnagar, Sitapur, Sonbhadra, Sultanpur, Unnao, Varanasi, Aligarh, Bareilly, Hapur, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Mainpuri, Moradabad, Mathura, Rampur, Saharanpur and Shahjahanpur.

Twenty districts recorded normal rain (19% to minus 19%): Bahraich, Ballia, Balrampur, Barabanki, Chitrakoot, Kanpur City, Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Mirzapur, Agra, Auraiya, Badaun, Baghpat, Bijnor, Bulandshahr, Etawah, Firozabad, Hamirpur, Hathras and Kasganj.

Etah and Sambhal received excess rain (20% to 59%) while Muzaffarnagar and Meerut recorded largely excess rainfall (60% to 99%).

Monsoon activity in the state is expected to intensify over the next 4 to 5 days; consequently, widespread rainfall, with isolated heavy spells, is likely across the state, according to IMD forecast.

The overall rain deficit in UP is pegged at 29%. The state received 271.3 mm ran since June 1 against a long period average of 380.4 mm. East UP received 268.3 mm rainfall against normal of 408.9 mm, 34% deficit, while West UP recorded 275.5 mm rainfall against normal of 340.6 mm, deficit 19%.

Lucknow is expected to experience a few spells of rain and thundershowers throughout the day on Tuesday, with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to hover around 31 and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively. Rain and thundershowers are very likely to occur at most places across UP while thunderstorm accompanied with lightning is also likely at isolated places.