Delhi Receives Maximum Rainfall for May in 13 Years

Delhi received 144.8 mm rainfall in May this year, the highest for the month in 13 years, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). “No rain is predicted in the next four to five days. So, this is the highest rainfall in May since 2008,” Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre, said on Tuesday.

The Safdarjung Observatory, considered the official marker for the city, had recorded 21.1 mm rainfall last year, 26.9 mm in 2019 and 24.2 mm in 2018. It had gauged 40.5 mm precipitation in 2017; 24.3 mm in 2016; 3.1 mm in 2015 and 100.2 mm in 2014, according to IMD data.

The observatory recorded nine rain days in May this year, the maximum since 2014, when it had received rainfall on 10 days. It had recorded seven rain days last year and five such days in 2018.

A record 119.3 mm rainfall had pounded Delhi under the impact of cyclonic storm Tauktae and a western disturbance between 8.30 am on Wednesday and 8.30 am on Thursday last week, breaking all the previous records for May. This was double the previous record rainfall of 60 mm on May 24 in 1976, according to the IMD.

Since the maximum temperature is predicted to remain below the 40 degrees Celsius-mark till May 31, this is likely to be the first time since 2014 that Safdarjung did not record a heatwave in the pre-monsoon period. First, frequent Western Disturbances kept the mercury in check and later Cyclone Tauktae led to “record” rains, Srivastava said.

No heatwave has been recorded even at Palam this year so far, he said. For the plains, a “heatwave” is declared when the maximum temperature is more than 40 degrees Celsius, and at least 4.5 notches above normal.

A “severe” heatwave is declared if departure from normal temperature is more than 6.5 degrees Celsius, according to the IMD. The capital has recorded a mean maximum temperature of 37.02 degrees Celsius this May so far against a 30-year-average of 39.5 degrees Celsius.

Till Tuesday, the mean minimum temperature stood at 22.93 degrees Celsius. The long-term average minimum temperature for May is 25.8 degrees Celsius.

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