Mercury drops as clouds pour relief on Lucknow

LUCKNOW: Intermittent light rains turned the weather pleasant in the city on Tuesday, providing relief from the sultry conditions prevailing for the past few days.
Overcast sky and rains led to drop in the mercury level by five degrees during the day in comparison to Monday. Around 5mm rainfall was recorded. Partly cloudy sky with one or two spells of rains is expected till Friday. The rains in the city have been 24% below normal so far this monsoon.Against the normal of 286.8mm, total rainfall has been 218.7mm. The ongoing spell is expected to improve the score.
State Met director JP Gupta said the monsoon trough is shifting towards UP and will bring rainfall across the state. The monsoon trough is an extended low pressure area that causes precipitation in the region under it.
The eastern and central UP districts will receive more rains than the western region. Lucknow will also receive light to moderate rainfall, he added.
The state Met department also issued warning of heavy rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning for several districts on Wednesday. These districts include Shravasti, Balrampur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Moradabad, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Banda, Hamirpur, Jhansi, Jalaun, Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya and Kannauj.
Overall, UP has received normal rains so far since June 1. However, a close look reveals that western parts are reeling under deficit. Average per district rains in west UP has been 197.5mm, which is 33% below normal. In comparison, east UP is far ahead with per district average of 429.2mm rainfall, which is 19% above normal.