Weather / Delhi records lowest maximum temperature in May in 70 years

New Delhi: The consistent rainfall in Delhi all through Wednesday, continuing through the intervening night ensured the city had its highest rainfall to ever be recorded in the month of May, India Meteorological Department said. The rains also led to a dip in the maximum temperature, making it the lowest maximum temperature since 1951.

IMD recordings showed that till 8.30pm on Wednesday, Delhi’s Safdarjung observatory had recorded 60mm rainfall. IMD officials said that till now, the all-time record of rainfall for May for Safdarjung is 60.0 mm, recorded on May 24, 1976, and since the rain continued through the night in most parts of the city, this record has been broken. Palam observatory recorded 36.8mm rain and the Najafgarh station recorded 57mm rainfall.

Recordings for overall rainfall between Wednesday and early Thursday will be released by IMD by afternoon.

Delhi and NCR received moderate rainfall throughout Wednesday, which resulted in a drop of 16 degrees Celsius (°C), IMD said. The drop in temperature resulted in the lowest maximum temperature recorded in the month of May in at least 70 years.

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said, “Some parts of Delhi might receive light rain till Thursday afternoon as well,” Srivastava said.

Srivastava said that Wednesday’s rain and the resultant drop in temperature was similar to what the city usually experiences during peak monsoon season, in August.

Wednesday’s rain led to a drastic drop in the temperatures, with the maximum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory falling to 23.8°C, 16°C below the normal for this time of the year. The minimum temperature was 21.4°C, five notches below the season’s normal. The Palam observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 25.7°C, 15°C. The minimum temperature here was 20.2°C.

“We need to understand that this weather was induced by a rare phenomenon, the cyclonic storms. But it is true that even during peak monsoons, Delhi seldom experiences consistent rains,” a senior IMD official said.

According to IMD, Wednesday’s temperatures were the lowest since 1951, the oldest recorded temperature available. Before this, the lowest maximum temperature was 24.8°C, recorded on May 13, 1982.

“The maximum temperature will rise by 3-4°C degrees on Thursday and then will continue to rise in the coming four days. There is no impact of the cyclone seen in and around Delhi at least in the coming four to five days,” Srivastava said.

IMD officials explained that rainfall activity began in parts of Delhi starting Tuesday night under the residual impact of cyclone Tauktae. The IMD issued an orange alert over Delhi and NCR on Tuesday, to alert authorities to be prepared for the possibility of heavy rain and gusty winds.

Cyclone Tauktae (pronounced as Tau’Te) that intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm made a landfall on Gujarat coast late on Monday evening with wind speed between 150kmph and 160kmph. A tropical cyclone is an intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans and is characterised by low atmospheric pressure, strong winds followed by heavy rainfall.