The southwest monsoon has set in over the national capital triggering the highest amount of rainfall that the city has received in a single day in June since 1936. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi’s oldest weather station at Safdarjung recorded 228.1 mm rainfall in 12 hours – a far cry from just 64.1 mm that it normally receives in the entire month of June.
Delhi recorded its highest single-day rainfall for this month on June 24, 1936, when the total rainfall touched 235.5 mm, followed by 228.1 m recorded this time. The rain spell began around Thursday night but suddenly grew in intensity during midnight with severe thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds worsening its impact. The entire city was covered by the catastrophic downpour by Friday morning.
Three of the five main meteorological stations of the IMD recorded over 150 mm of rain – Safdarjung (228 mm), Lodhi Road (193 mm), and the Ridge (150.4mm), while it touched 106.6 mm at Palam. The Aya Nagar weather station observed 66.3 mm of rainfall – far more than the 58.9 mm that it normally receives over the month. The IMD has also issued an orange warning for heavy rains over Delhi till June 30.
EXTREME RAINFALL EVENTS ON THE RISE
Scientists have warned all along that extreme rainfall events have gone up drastically over India in recent decades, even as the destruction caused each time exposes the lack of preparedness on the ground. The data shows that more rain is now falling on fewer days, with long dry periods in between due to the continuous warming of the atmosphere.
“This is because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture for a long duration – with every 1℃ warming, the atmosphere’s moisture-carrying capacity increases by 6-7 %. We know it has been happening for years, but these forecasts and projections are not translating into action on the ground. A sector-wise decision-support system is still missing, and it needs to be urgently developed by engaging scientists, academia, industry, and stakeholders. Whatever forecasts are available should help us to at least develop sector-specific plans in advance,” said Professor Subimal Ghosh, leading the Interdisciplinary Program in Climate Studies at IIT Bombay.
A recent study led by Indian scientists from IITM Pune and IIT Bombay published in Nature showed that there has been a threefold increase in the widespread extreme rain events over central India during 1950–2015. The monsoon, too, is becoming more erratic, and scientists have warned that there has been an increase not only in the intensity but frequency of extreme precipitation events.
MONSOON SETS IN OVER DELHI, CONFIRMED BY IMD
The forecasts showed an active western disturbance had impacted the western Himalayan region and this storm interacted with the strong south-westerly winds from the Bay of Bengal leading to the downpour. The IMD had forecasted widespread rains over northwest India and isolated heavy rains over Haryana and Delhi from June 28 onwards with orange-level warnings. The torrential rain during the night wreaked havoc causing catastrophic flooding with submerged cars, clogged highways, and collapse of structures.
The monsoon normally makes its onset over Delhi around June 27. However, its advance over north India this June was irregular. As of Friday, it has already advanced into all northwestern states including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu and Kashmir. The IMD had, however, refrained from forecasting the monsoon onset date over Delhi until Friday, when it confirmed the arrival of the seasonal rains over the national capital.
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