Wettest June in Delhi in last 10 years, but it’s still not monsoon yet

Delhi hasn’t received so much of rain in June in a decade. Met officials said that these are all pre-monsoon showers. But where is the monsoon?

Experts at the Indian Meteorological Department said on Friday morning that the monsoon is still hovering over Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. It is likely to reach Delhi-NCR only by July 2 or early next week. The official date for arrival of the monsoon in Delhi is June 29.

“The monsoon has not moved over the past two days at least. We are expecting that it would start moving from today and cover Delhi NCR by this weekend or early next week,” said a senior official of met department.

But monsoon or not, heavy showers have already started causing waterlogging leading to traffic jams on the road.

“Traffic slowed down in several areas such as NH-24, Azad Market Chowk, Moolchand, AIIMS, Ajmeri Gate Chowk, Saket, Jahangirpuri and Munirka among others,” said traffic police personnel. At least two trees got uprooted because of the intermittent rains that have hit Delhi since Wednesday.

“Since June 1, New Delhi area (Safdarjung observatory) has received 191.9mm of rain. This is the wettest June, Delhi has witnessed since 2007,” said the official.

Delhi had recorded 150.9mm rain in June 2007. It never rained more than that over a decade. In June 2013, it received around 119.5mm o rain. The wettest June Delhi has ever witnessed was in the year 1936. The city had received around 414.8mm of rain in that year.

Palam area recorded around 87.2mm of rain in June this year. Met officials said that there have been earlier records of more rainfall in June in Palam area. In 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2013 Palam had registered more than 100mm of rain.

“We are expecting more rain over the next few days. A western disturbance is coming in and this would trigger more rain. Monsoon is also round the corner,” said the official.

Sometimes the monsoon current is strong enough and advances on its own. But at times it needs some ‘push’ or a ‘drag’ to advance over the Indian landmass. Certain atmospheric conditions such as a cyclonic circulation, a low pressure or a depression in the sea provide this push.