As rain lashes national capital, IMD forecasts Delhi's monsoon relief to last till July 1

LIGHT rain was seen in parts of the national capital on June 26, which brought much-needed relief from the hot and humid weather conditions in the city. Earlier, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted light rains and thunderstorms on Wednesday as the Southwest Monsoon advanced across peninsular India.

The weather department has also issued a yellow alert for the national capital, predicting heavy rains across Delhi until July 1. It adds that Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi is likely to get isolated heavy (64.5-115.5 mm) to very heavy rainfall (115.5-204.4 mm) on 28 and 29 June 2024.

Meanwhile, the rain, which has brought much-needed relief from the scorching heat, has created problems for the residents of some areas of the national capital as waterlogging persists. Residents of South Delhi's Aya Nagar face similar problems due to damaged roads that caused waterlogging due to rainfall.

The weather office further said the West Peninsular Coast of the country is expected to witness ‘heavy’ to ‘very heavy rainfall’ over next 3-4 days and the Northeast India likely during June 27 to 30, 2024. Rainfall activity is likely to increase over Northwest India with heavy to very heavy rainfall likely during 28th-30th June, the IMD further added.

The forecast also suggests the possibility of isolated extremely heavy rainfall over Coastal Karnataka on June 26. Kerala, Mahe and Tamil Nadu also expect isolated heavy rainfall at the same time.

Isolated very heavy rainfall is very likely over Uttarakhand, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura during 28th-30th; East Uttar Pradesh during 28th-29th; over Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh on 29th & 30th June, 2024.

Similarly, isolated very heavy rainfall is very likely over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar on June 26, Odisha on June 27 and 28; Arunachal Pradesh from June 27 to June 30.

The IMD predicted heavy rains accompanied by lightning in parts of Andhra Pradesh for three days from June 26 to 28. Heavy downpours are likely in parts of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh (NCAP), Yanam and South Coastal Andhra Pradesh (SCAP).

"The cyclonic circulation over east-central Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood now lies over west-central adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal between 1.5 and 5.8 km above mean sea level, tilting southwestwards with height," said the Met Department in a press release.

As per the IMD, conditions are likely to become favourable for further advance of Southwest Monsoon into remaining parts of the North Arabian Sea, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh; some more parts of Rajasthan; remaining parts of Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar; most parts of East Uttar Pradesh; some more parts of West Uttar Pradesh; some parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad, northern parts of Punjab and northern parts of Haryana during next 3-4 days.

Meanwhile, fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning is very likely over Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Karnataka, Kerala and Mahe, Lakshadweep, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh; scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, Rayalaseema, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal in next 5 days.

The forecast also suggests the possibility of further monsoon advancement into parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and other areas in the upcoming three to four days.