Face of Nation : New Delhi: The national capital witnessed its second driest June in 26 years, recording a meagre 6.6 mm of rainfall, India Meteorological Department officials said Monday.
It was also the most rain-deficient “state” in June, recording 90 per cent less than normal rainfall.
On average, the city records 64.1 mm of precipitation in June. This time, it gauged only 6.6 mm of rainfall, making it the driest “state” in the country.
The city had witnessed its driest June in 1993, recording just 5 mm of rainfall, an IMD official said.
As the national capital reeled under heat wave conditions on Monday, with the mercury breaching the 43-degree Celsius mark in some parts of the city, the Weatherman said rain activity is likely to begin from Tuesday onwards.
Moisture-laden easterly winds will trigger rains in the city in the next three to four days, the weatherman said.
The weatherman has predicted a generally cloudy sky and very light rains on Tuesday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 39 and 30 degrees Celsius.
“Delayed onset of the easterly winds led to scant rainfall in June. We have them now and pre-monsoon rain activity is likely till July 4,” an official said.
Kuldeep Srivastava, senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department, said a heat wave is declared if the temperature is five degrees more than normal or the mercury touches the 45-degree Celsius mark for two consecutive days.
The power demand in Delhi broke all previous records, touching a peak of 7,241 MW on Monday afternoon as sweltering heat continued unabated in the national capital.
Delhi saw the highest power demand ever at 3.29 pm. It broke the previous record of 7,016 MW demand on July 10, 2018, said a BSES spokesperson.
“Delhi’s peak power demand during the summers of 2019 may clock 7,400 MW, an increase of over 250 per cent over the peak power demand of 2,879 MW in 2002,” he said.
Power in Delhi is supplied by three distribution companies — Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), and BSES discoms BYPL and BRPL.
“The TPDDL successfully met the record peak power demand of 2,014 MW without any network constraint and power outage as Delhi touched a record high of 7,241 MW on Monday,” said a TPDDL spokesperson.
However, for smaller areas like the national capital, a heat wave is declared if similar conditions persist even for a day, he said.
“The delay in the onset of monsoon is the primary reason. Normally, the wind system reaches the city by June 29. Had it been on time, it could have made up for the rain deficiency,” Kuldeep Srivastava, senior scientist at IMD, said.
With a rain deficiency of 82 per cent, Chandigarh remained the second driest “state” in June. It recorded just 24.8 mm of rainfall against the average of 137 mm from June 1 and July 1, he said.
Western Disturbance also did not have any major impact on the weather in the city. Delayed onset of easterly winds, which brings moisture to the region and causes pre-monsoon rainfall, is another reason. So far, the city has witnessed dry westerly and northwesterly winds only, Srivastava said.
“Today, we have easterly winds and Delhi can witness some rain activity in the next three to four days. Monsoon is likely to make an onset on July 4-5,” he said.
