Monsoon set to take Delhi’s leave

NEW DELHI: The city is unlikely to see rainfall for the rest of the month. In fact, other than July that recorded 292.5mm rain against a normal of 210.6mm, the August and September have been rather disappointing.
“The overall monsoon figure from June 1 to September 26 stands at 97% of the long period average (LPA) so it has not been disappointing at all. Some parts even in a larger area tend to get left out, as in the case of Delhi,” said a Met official.
Delhi’s normal rainfall for September is 125.1mm and with 75mm recorded till September 26, over just three days, it is highly unlikely to make up the deficit.August too recorded below normal rainfall, as did June.
Met officials said conditions are becoming favourable for the withdrawal of monsoon in the next three to four days. It has already withdrawn from the extreme west of Rajasthan on September 15. “Easterly winds have been affecting northwest of the country for the past few days and there has been a low pressure system over southeast Madhya Pradesh, Vidharbha and nearby areas. Because of this, there has been a lot of moisture over northwest which has resulted in rain over some regions and high humidity over others, including Delhi. However, the situation seems to be changing and withdrawal is likely within this week,” said an official. The normal date of withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from the city is September 21. In most years, monsoon has withdrawn from Delhi by the end of September. In 2013, it ended on October 17, the latest ever in the past 70 years.
Due to the prevailing easterly winds, Delhi is expected to see a partly cloudy sky on Tuesday but the maximum and minimum temperatures will remain around 35 degree Celsius and 25 degree Celsius respectively.