Pleasant weekend in store for Delhi as rain likely to keep temperature down

Met department has said that moderate to heavy rainfall could delay the paddy harvesting season in NCR states.

Rain and thundershowers lashed parts of Delhi-NCR on Friday morning bringing some respite from the hot and muggy weather. Met officials said that more rain is in store over the weekend.

Delhiites woke up to an overcast sky on Friday morning and the mercury dipped as some parts of the city received rain. (Ravi Choudhary / HT Photo)

Delhi is, however, still reeling under 38 per cent rain deficiency. Till Wednesday the state had received around 385mm of rain. Usually, Delhi receives around 619mm of rain by this time of the year.

While Met officials are expecting at least a five degree drop in the mercury level over the weekend, officials in Punjab and Haryana’s agriculture department said it could delay the paddy harvesting season by a few days in NCR states.

“A low pressure area has developed over Madhya Pradesh and this is triggering the rain in central and north-west India. We are also expecting moderate to heavy rains in some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh,” said a senior Met official.

Delhiites woke up to an overcast sky on Friday morning and the mercury dipped as some parts of the city received rain. East Delhi received moderate showers while there was a light drizzle in south. The rain also slowed down traffic movement during the office rush hours.

“The harvesting season is around the corner and is likely to take off in the next few days. But if there is moderate to heavy rain at this stage then the soil will become moist and the harvesting could be delayed by a few days,” said a senior official of the agriculture department of Haryana.

Met officials claimed that even though Delhi received around 191.9mm of rain in June this year, even before monsoon could set in, the rains almost vanished in July and August.

“Delhi receives the maximum monsoon rain in the months of July and August. But this time there was deficient rain in these two months resulting in deficiency,” said a met official.