Dry spell ends in Gurugram, more rain likely

Meanwhile, air quality in Gurugram improved to ‘moderate’ on Monday, with the Central Pollution Control Board’s air quality index (AQI) monitor recording the reading as 194. Sunday’s AQI was 202 (poor).

A short but intense bout of rain on Monday afternoon broke a 10-day-long dry spell in the city and turned the weather pleasant. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Gurugram received 8mm of rain between 2pm and 5pm on Monday.

Boys play in a puddle after rain in Gurugram on Monday.(Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Most parts of the city had received either no rain or only traces of precipitation since July 5 when the arrival of the southwest monsoon in northwestern parts of India was declared by the IMD. According to experts, the weak rainfall activity was a result of the shift of the monsoon trough to the north of the National Capital Region.

A monsoon trough is a belt of low pressure extending over a large area (from northwest Rajasthan till the Bay of Bengal), the position of which affects rainfall activity. When the trough shifts northwards of its normal position, it leads to heavy rain in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and the northeastern states, while rain over the southern parts of the trough ceases.

However, according to scientists, the trough has started to move towards the south. “This trough will bring rain to many parts of Haryana and Punjab in the next two or three days,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, senior scientist at the IMD, adding that as a result of the realignment of the trough, warm westerly winds were replaced by moisture-bearing easterly winds, which led to the rain.

While light rain is predicted on Tuesday, its intensity is likely to increase on Wednesday, said experts.

The maximum temperature on Monday, as recorded by the IMD, was 36.5 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was 26.3 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature over the next two or three days will be around 34 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature is expected to be around 24 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, air quality in the city improved to ‘moderate’ on Monday, with the Central Pollution Control Board’s air quality index (AQI) monitor recording the reading as 194. Sunday’s AQI was 202 (poor).

However, according to experts, NCR is in the “severely dry” category as per IMD Pune’s standard precipitation index data released on July 10. They said it was very unusual to see such large deficiency in mid-July. “Deficiency may reduce a little bit in the next few days. But we are seeing almost all of south Haryana and Delhi-NCR highly deficient this year. It’s a combination of factors, like a delay in monsoon and then break in monsoon conditions,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president, climate change and meteorology, Skymet.