E-Paper
Winds up to 70 km/hr expected in Delhi on Wed, Thur, Fri; IMD issues alerts
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued yellow and orange alerts for moderate and severe weather-related dangers for Wednesday and Thursday
Rain, thunderstorms, and gusty winds up to 70 km per hour were expected in Delhi on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue yellow and orange alerts for moderate and severe weather-related dangers. The IMD upgraded a yellow alert for Friday to orange, saying light to moderate rain was likely, with strong winds reaching up to 70 km per hour.
Five significant storms this month have left at least 12 people dead due to house collapses, electrocution, and uprooted trees in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
No colour-coded alert was in place for Wednesday until afternoon, when IMD issued the yellow alert. “There are chances of some very light to light rain now. On Thursday, similar rain activity is expected, with the intensity even higher on Friday,” said an IMD official.
Gusty winds up to 50 km per hour were expected later on Wednesday and up to 60 km per hour a day later. Delhi was likely to receive over 200mm of rainfall by the end of this month. Delhi has logged 186.4mm in monthly rainfall, making it the wettest May ever for Delhi. The previous record was 165mm in May 2008. The long-period average (LPA) for rainfall in May is 30.7mm.
Parts of Delhi received scattered light rain on Monday morning as the IMD said another wet week was likely. A thunderstorm and three hours of heavy rain in Delhi and the NCR on Sunday disrupted flight operations and triggered waterlogging, power cuts, and uprooted trees, signalling inadequate infrastructure and a lack of preparations for monsoon.
The Delhi, Chandigarh, and Haryana sub-division was expected to get above normal monsoon rain or 114% of the LPA, the IMD said on Tuesday as it issued its forecast for the rainy season. Overall, above normal rainfall was expected from June until September, or 106% of LPA, across the country. IMD said a normal monsoon (92-108% of the LPA) was expected in northwest India.
For the Delhi, Chandigarh, and Haryana sub-division, 431mm of monsoon rainfall is considered normal. The monsoon usually reaches Delhi on June 27. It is advancing faster after arriving in Kerala on May 24, a week before its normal date of June 1. The monsoon onset was declared in Mumbai on May 26, weeks ahead of its normal date of June 11.
