Delhi weather: Reined in by rain! Heatwave relents, but will be back

NEW DELHI: Several parts of Delhi on Friday got light to moderate rain accompanied by a cool breeze that brought respite from the unbearable heat.
Safdarjung, the city’s base station, logged 3.6mm of light rainfall till 5.30pm. It was the highest rainfall recorded in the city since March 3 when 4 mm rainfall was recorded in a day.

Since rain is unlikely for the next four days, the day temperature is predicted to show a rising trend and heatwave conditions are expected to return on Monday and Tuesday.
Though the Friday showers brought temporary relief, the maximum temperature rose to 40.4 degrees Celsius, two degrees above normal, at Safdarjung. It was 0.4 degrees higher than Thursday’s maximum. The streak of day temperature crossing 40 degrees Celsius continued for the 39th day.
The heat-index or the feel-like temperature was 53 degrees Celsius due to a rise in humidity after the rain.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the wind speed of up to 31 kmph was recorded at Safdarjung in the past 24 hours. At Palam, the wind speed was 56 kmph.
“Rain along with cold strong winds provided comfort from the heatwave. However, as the impact of the western disturbance ebbs, the mercury will start rising,” a Met official said.
Some parts of the capital recorded a higher rainfall than Safdarjung. Pitampura logged the highest at 33.5mm, followed by Rajghat at 32 mm. Pusa, Ridge, Lodhi Road, Jafarpur, Palam and Ayanagar logged 14, 6.2, 3.8, 1.5, 1.2mm and trace rainfall, respectively, till 5.30 pm.
Delhi has mostly been rain-deficit so far this year. In Jan, Safdarjung saw ‘trace’ rainfall against a normal of 19.1mm, making it a rain-deficit by 100%. Feb has been the only exception this year when the city got 32.5mm rainfall, which was an excess of 53%. March saw a rain deficit of 75% as the city got just 4.3mm, as opposed to the month’s normal of 17.4mm.
April again ended with a rain-deficit of 54% with just 7.5mm rainfall. May recorded only 0.4mm and a deficit of 99%. Before Friday, June saw two days of very light rain and the city is still staring at a rain deficit.
IMD has issued a ‘yellow’ alert for June 24 and 25 for heatwaves at isolated places. “The maximum temperature is likely to rise to 42 and 43 degrees Celsius during the weekend. It may rise further to 44 on Monday and Tuesday, leading to heatwave conditions,” a Met official said.
MCD received water logging complaints from 12 places, including Pusa Road in Karol Bagh, Sector 15 Rohini, Outram Lane in GTB Nagar, Mitraon in Najafgarh, Multani Mohalla in Gandhi Nagar. There were complaints of trees falling in nine places, including Karol Bagh, E block in East of Kailash, Gulabi Bagh and Tagore Garden extension.