The weather department has issued a ‘red alert’ for Thursday, 25 July, and an ‘orange alert’ for Friday in the National Capital Region predicting the area’s heaviest rainfall so far. An orange alert has also been sounded for Haryana, NDTV reported.
The heavy to ‘very heavy’ rain predicted in some parts of Delhi over the next 48 hours is expected to reduce the rain deficit in the national capital. On Monday, the MeT Department had said the country was in the middle of a multi-decadal epoch of low rainfall, NDTV reported.
The inclement weather is likely to continue in the city till Sunday, reports said.
Heaviest Rainfall Expected on Thursday
Mahesh Palawat, the vice president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather, said rains are expected to intensify on Thursday night as the axis of monsoon trough is moving towards the north and moisture-laden winds are rushing in from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, PTI reports said.
Kuldeep Srivastava, a scientist at IMD, told The Times of India that the intensity of the rain would be strongest on Thursday, which is why the red alert had been issued.
Temperatures Should Drop Considerably
“Temperatures should also drop considerably, reducing humidity levels to an extent,” Srivastava added, speaking to The Times of India.
On Wednesday, Delhi’s maximum temperature rose to 37.8 degrees Celsius — three degrees above normal for this time of the season. The forecast for Thursday shows a maximum of 33 degrees Celsius.
Keeping in mind the predicted rain, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has issued an alert to its staff for operation of portable pumps in order to clear water from the roads.
“There is heavy rain expected in north corporation area from Wednesday evening. All temporary waterlogging, if any, be cleared immediately,” the statement released by the civic body said, The Times of India reported.
(With inputs from PTI, NDTV and The Times of India.)
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