Another wet spell likely over Delhi, north-west India

February 18, 2013 07:46 pm | Updated 08:43 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

Delhi and other parts of north-west India could be in for another wet spell later this week, making it one of the wettest Februarys for the region.

According to the India Meteorological Department, another western disturbance was on its way and it could bring in more rain or thundershowers to Delhi and States adjoining it during the weekend – February 23 and 24.

“The rainfall over Delhi is likely to commence in the early morning of 23rd and continue till 24th morning,” a statement from IMD said.

Besides Delhi, the system is expected to affect north Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh. Thunderstorms accompanied by hail storms may occur at one or two places in the region during the two days.

In addition, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand could receive heavy to moderate rain or snowfall between February 21 and 24.

The upcoming event is the third spell of western disturbance to affect the north-west India since the beginning of this month.

Noting that western disturbances were not unusual for February – normally five such systems affect the region during this month, a spokesperson of the IMD said what was significant about this year was that the quantity and spatial distribution of the precipitation has been much more than normal both over the plain and the foothills of the Himalayas.

This was because the induced systems associated with western disturbances this year were in the form of depression or a low pressure areas instead of the usual upper air cyclonic circulations and this led to moisture incursions from both Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal and their convergence over the region.

Following the first two spells – the first from February 4 to 6 and the second from February 15 to 17, some meteorological stations in the region have already broken old records for rainfalls for the entire month of February.

Lucknow, for instance, has recorded a total rainfall of 135.7 mm, an all time record for the month, while at Dehra Dun, the precipitation recorded so far is the highest after 1961 and at Barmer in Rajasthan it is highest after 1939.

In Delhi, the meteorological station at Safdardjung has recorded a total rainfall of 93 mm, which is the fifth highest since 1901 for the entire month of February after 143.2 mm in 1915, 128.2 mm in 1942, 123.5 mm in 1990 and 96.6 mm in 1954.

The spokesperson said the ensuing rains could be the last wet spell of the current winter season.

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