For Delhi, July, August among driest in 5 years

Delhi has experienced one of its driest Julys in five years and August is on its way to being much worse.

Delhi has experienced one of its driest Julys in five years and August is on its way to being much worse.

According to data from the Met department, Delhi got 103mm of rain this July, which had just 13 rainy days. Compare this to last year, when the Capital got 340mm of rain in July from 17 rainy days.

“The frequency of rain-giving systems is less this year. This is the main reason why north-west India, particularly Delhi, has recorded a deficiency in rainfall,” said a Met official. This year’s July is marginally better than July 2012 when the Capital received just 95mm from 13 rainy days.

August has had only four rainy days so far, totalling 120mm of rain, and the weatherman has said there is very little possibility of rain in the coming days. Delhi’s rain deficiency already stands at 32% for this month. August usually averages 19 days of rain and the same month last year saw 321mm of rain (16 rainy days).

According to the Met website, the overall rainfall deficiency in India stands at 18%. For the north-west, it’s 29% — Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi together have 62% deficiency.