Moderate to heavy rain expected in Delhi today; IMD sounds orange alert

Parts of the Capital recorded light rain in the early hours of Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, and forecast moderate to heavy rain in Delhi for the remainder of the day. An orange alert asking authorities to remain prepared for potentially worsened weather that could disrupt or pose a threat to life and property was in place because of the forecast.

IMD said no rain was recorded in the 24 hours until 8:30am at Safdarjung, the observatory representative of Delhi’s weather, even as Ayanagar weather station recorded 3.2mm during this period. It said Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 30.7°C, or three degrees above normal, compared to 28.4°C on Monday. The mercury was expected to go up to 33°C on Tuesday. The Capital recorded a maximum temperature of 36°C on Monday.

Most parts of Delhi did not get any rain over the past 24 hours like Sunday even as IMD said moderate to heavy showers were expected in the city. IMD said forecasts for smaller geographical areas were challenging as it announced plans to improve forecasting in the region by adding three more Doppler weather radars (DWRs) in the National Capital Region. Two of Delhi’s three DWRs at Ayanagar, Palam, and Lodhi Road were under maintenance. Only the Ayanagar DWR was currently in use.

IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra on Monday said forecasts for any region, particularly during the monsoon can be challenging. “But our accuracy over the years has improved by 10 to 20%. Since Delhi has a very small area, rain spells often miss Delhi, but end up occurring in the neighbouring Haryana or Uttar Pradesh.”

He referred to challenges in forecasting in a smaller area and said Safdarjung received 91mm of rainfall between 5am and 6am on June 28, which was close to the cloudburst criteria of over 100mm in a single hour.

“This extreme rainfall event was very confined, spatially and temporally over some parts of the city, particularly Safdarjung. So it is definitely a challenge we are trying to address.”