New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) Delhi had the sun playing hide and seek Sunday but no rain fell and the the maximum temperature rose three notches above average to 37 degrees Celsius. The weatherman has held out hope of some rain Monday.
According to the Met department, the capital so far has a rainfall deficit of 43 percent.
“This season has seen a 43 percent deficit in rainfall in the capital. Countrywide, there’s a 23 percent deficit but we expect that the rains will pick up in a few days,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official told IANS.
According to IMD, the normal rainfall expected till July 15 is 153.8 mm while this year, the capital has received only 87.6 mm rainfall so far. Some deficit could be attributed to the delayed onset of monsoon which arrived a week later than expected this year.
Sunday’s humidity readings showed a maximum of 82 percent and minimum of 48 percent while the minimum temperature rose a notch above average to settle at 28 degrees Celsius.
The capital saw a meagre 0.1 mm rainfall till 8.30 a.m. and none till 5.30 p.m.
“Monday should see partly cloudy skies and we expect light rainfall or thundershowers in some parts of Delhi. The day’s maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be 37 and 27 degrees Celsius respectively,” the official added.
Saturday’s maximum and minimum temperatures both settled a notch below average at 33 degrees and 25.7 degrees Celsius respectively.