Sting in Monsoon tail pricks rainfall deficit

Delhiites may be experiencing one of the worst monsoon seasons in recent memory, but it appears to have caught up with its rainfall deficit, barely 10 days before monsoon officially ends in the Capital.

Delhiites may be experiencing one of the worst monsoon seasons in recent memory, but it appears to have caught up with its rainfall deficit, barely 10 days before monsoon officially ends in the Capital.

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By Saturday, Delhi’s seasonal rainfall deficit dropped to a mere 18 per cent of the expected amount. And according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a deficit as little as this is normal.

By August-end, Delhi should have received 548 mm of rainfall in three months starting June. It has received a handsome 441 mm, making Delhi’s monsoon chart appear—quite deceptively—healthy.

But actually, monsoon in Delhi this year has been confined to just a few hours of rainfall over a handful of days.

“Most of the rainfall happened over around 4-5 days, within a few hours’ time,” said SC Bhan, Director, India Meteorological Department (IMD). “In that, this monsoon is quite interesting.”

This monsoon is full of such contradictions.

Last month, for instance, it rained 15 days—days when it rained at least 2.5 mm—against the expected 11 days.

But more than 50 per cent of the total 216 mm of rainfall happened in just two spells—43.8 and 74.4mm. July was worse.

In July it rained around 143 mm against an expected 225. But the entire rainfall happened over just one day when it rained 126 mm.

“The rainfall has not been distributed fairly across the season,” said OP Sharma, meteorologist formerly with the Indian Air Force and now with SkyMet.

“In the past few days, a western disturbance carried some rain here.”