After the southwest monsoon officially arrived in Delhi on July 2, residents expected continuous rains and relief from the summer heat. Instead, the capital saw only scattered rainfall, leaving many to wonder why the city remained largely dry despite the arrival of the monsoon.
Experts have attributed Delhi’s weakest monsoon so far to weather systems in other parts of the country pulling the monsoon stream away from the capital, HT reported earlier. “The movement of cyclones over Madhya Pradesh and the low pressure area over Odisha has pulled the depression into central India, resulting in less rainfall. The city is likely to witness typical monsoon rains from July 5,” said Mahesh Bhalawat, vice president, Skymet Weather, a private weather forecasting company.
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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also indicated increased rainfall activity over the coming days, forecasting moderate rain on Sunday, widespread rain on Monday, followed by thunderstorms during most of the week.
Delhi weather on sunday
Delhi woke up to a warm and humid Sunday, with the minimum temperature settling at 29.2 degrees Celsius, which is 1.3 degrees above the seasonal average. According to the IMD, the capital is expected to witness partly cloudy skies accompanied by moderate rain during the day, while the maximum temperature is likely to reach around 36 degrees Celsius.
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Relative humidity reached 77% at 8:30 a.m., adding to humid conditions across the city.
Humidity in delhi
Despite below-normal temperatures during the day, Delhi residents continued to endure uncomfortable weather due to high humidity. On Saturday, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 35.4 degrees Celsius, two degrees below the seasonal average, while the minimum settled at 29 degrees Celsius, about 1.1 degrees above the normal average.
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The humidity also caused the heat index, or “true” temperature, to rise significantly. At 5:30 pm on Saturday, the heat index reached 45.4 degrees Celsius, making outside conditions hotter than the actual air temperature.
Rainfall also remained well below normal. Between June 1 and June 30, Delhi received 32.91 mm of rainfall against the normal of 74.1 mm, resulting in a rainfall deficit of 55.6% for the month. With the IMD forecasting more frequent rainfall over the next week, the coming days will determine whether the capital will finally receive the widespread rainfall it has been waiting for.
