The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi makes up for missed rain target

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Delhi makes up for missed rain target

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 8. It might have been a dry January, but barely in one night the Capital has made up for lost time. Recording a rainfall of 30.1 mm till 8-30 this morning, Delhi has not only met the target for February but also for the month of January.

Though the normal rainfall for the month of January is 22.7 mm, this year the Capital recorded a mere 3.4 mm. However, the past week has brought the much-needed rainfall with the Capital experiencing rain over the past weekend and also last night.

"This is because of the Western Disturbances over Punjab. It is moving slowly and giving rain. There is another system that we sighted in the evening today over North Rajasthan. But that is a shallow system and is not likely to give much rain," explained the Met director, R.D. Singh.

According to the Met Department, any more rain experienced by the Capital would be in excess of the normal figure. The rain, however, is not unusual. In 2003, the Capital had recorded a rainfall of 32 mm in the month of February as against a normal of 20.6 mm.

However, for those who thought the rain might bring the nip back in the air, Tuesday's sunny afternoon might have been unexpected. Receiving a fair amount of rainfall last night, the Capital might have begun the day on a wintry note but the mercury remained over the normal temperature through the day.

The maximum temperature recorded on Tuesday at Safdarjung was 24 degrees Celsius and minimum was 13 degrees Celsius compared to a normal of 23 and 9 degrees Celsius respectively. "Because of the rainfall, there has been some amount of clouding. That has led to an increase in the temperature,'' explained Dr. Singh.

However, for Wednesday, the Met Department has forecast light rain or a bit of drizzle. "There will be a partly cloudy sky and minimum temperature should be around 12 degrees Celsius. Both the systems are likely to give rainfall only in their surrounding areas. We are not anticipating much rain here. Perhaps a few drops," said the director.

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