Delhi records intense rain spell on Wednesday, heavy rain forecast for NCR

Parts of Delhi recorded an intense spell of rain on Wednesday evening. It started raining in different parts of the city around 6pm when light to moderate category (2.5 to 35.5 mm) rain was recorded.

The regional weather forecasting centre has predicted heavy rain in parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) in the next two days. But, according to the forecast, Delhi will witness light to moderate rain.

Delhi had a rain deficiency of 35% as on Wednesday which is likely to improve substantially on Thursday when Wednesday evening’s rain is accounted for. (ANI/Twitter)

Parts of Delhi recorded an intense spell of rain on Wednesday evening. It started raining in different parts of the city around 6pm when light to moderate category (2.5 to 35.5 mm) rain was recorded. However, around 10pm an intense spell of rain was recorded at Lodhi Road, Safdarjung and Palam stations, according to the Regional Meteorological Centre Delhi.

Delhi had a rain deficiency of 35% as on Wednesday which is likely to improve substantially on Thursday when Wednesday evening’s rain is accounted for.

Radar images showed 15 to 20mm rain in Palam, Lodhi Road and Safdarjung stations within an hour. “Up to 20mm rain was recorded in an hour, which can be categorised as an intense spell. We have to see how much rain was recorded totally in the city,” said Kuldeep Shrivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre.

“We can expect heavy rains in parts of NCR for the next two days. But in Delhi there will be light to moderate rains. The monsoon trough is running close to Delhi and southwesterly winds are bringing moisture to the region,” he added.

There is a moderate risk of flash floods in several parts of Uttarakhand, including Chamba and Kangra in Himachal Pradesh at least till Friday as monsoon strengthens over northwest India, according to Central Water Commission’s (CWC) flood warning.

Already, eastern Uttar Pradesh has recorded extremely heavy rain (over 20 cm) on Tuesday along with very heavy rains recorded over Uttarakhand, Haryana, eastern Madhya Pradesh, eastern Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat but only very light rain over Delhi.

“Most parts of northwest India have started recording very heavy rains except Delhi since August 9. But the region is getting moisture incursion from Arabian Sea. The monsoon trough (line of low pressure) is to the north of its normal position (Ganganagar to Bay of Bengal). So rains are expected during the next 2-3 days. A low pressure area is also developing over northwest Bay of Bengal which will bring good rains to central India and extremely heavy rains to Gujarat,” said K Sathi Devi, head, national weather forecasting centre.

When a low pressure area had developed over Bay of Bengal, Konkan region had recorded severe rains but this time Gujarat will record the impact of the low pressure which is likely to develop on Thursday, Sathi Devi said.

A north-south trough runs from Bihar to west-central Bay of Bengal in lower tropospheric levels. A cyclonic circulation lies over northwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal off Odisha-north Andhra Pradesh coasts, IMD said in its Wednesday bulletin.

Under the influence of the two systems, a low-pressure area is likely to form over northwest Bay of Bengal by Thursday. It is likely to persist over the region and become more organised over north Bay of Bengal during the subsequent 2-3 days, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Western part of the monsoon trough has shifted to the north of its normal position and it is likely to remain there during next 48 hours. Eastern part of it is in its “near normal” position. Due to these favourable conditions widespread and very heavy rain is likely over major parts of northwest India (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Uttar Pradesh) during next 2-3 days.

As on Tuesday 20 stations (13 in Bihar, 3 in Uttar Pradesh, 2 in Assam and 1 each in Jharkhand and West Bengal) are reporting severe flood situation and 36 stations (13 in Bihar, 10 in Assam, 5 in Uttar Pradesh, 3 in Kerala, 2 in Uttarakhand and 1 each in Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal) are reporting above normal flood situation. Severe flood is declared when water level is touching or exceeding the danger level but below highest flood level (HFL).

Due to forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall, there is likelihood of rise in water levels in Sutlej, Ravi, Beas, Ghaggar, Yamuna, Bhagirathi, Alaknanda, Ganga, Ramganga, Sarda, Sarju and Ghaghra rivers. Flash floods are likely in some of the hill districts along with cloud burst. Necessary precautions have to be taken for possible landslides and blockages of river flows due to landslides in high ranges of these states, the CWC warned.