1,502mm: Second highest annual rainfall in 121 years in Delhi

NEW DELHI: With Safdarjung receiving 27.5mm rainfall on Monday till 8.30am, the city’s base station has recorded 1,502.8mm rainfall this year so far, which is the second highest annual rainfall in 121 years. The all-time record of annual rainfall is 1,534.3 mm in 1933.
As the annual average normal rainfall mark for Safdarjung from January to December is 779 mm, the city has received almost double than the normal mark so far.The city also beat the 1975-record of 1253.9 mm this year.

Met officials said high rainfall recorded in some months this year helped the city cross the 1,500-mark. RK Jenamani, senior scientist at IMD, said, “Excess rainfall was recorded in January, May, July, September and October. Rain is unlikely in the next 10 days as no major western disturbance is predicted to impact the region.”
The city needs 31.5mm rainfall in November and December to beat the all-time record of 1,534.3 mm. Over this, Jenamani said, “The normal rainfall mark for November and December is just 5.6mm and 9mm, respectively. The record will depend on how the season unfolds in the next two months.”
IMD data shows that Safdarjung logged 56.6mm rainfall in January as against the normal of 21.7mm. Though the normal mark of May is just 19.7mm rainfall, the city received 144.8 mm rainfall.
Similarly, July recorded more than double the normal rainfall this year. The normal rainfall during July is 210.6 mm at Safdarjung Observatory but 507.1 mm rainfall was recorded in the month. September was no different as the city received 413.3 mm rainfall, as against normal of 125.1mm rainfall. October so far has logged 122.5 mm rainfall while the normal mark is only 28mm.
According to IMD’s data, the annual average rainfall recorded was below the normal-mark in the past two years. Safdarjung received 613 mm rainfall in 2019 and 765.4 mm rainfall in 2020 as against the normal mark of 779 mm.
Meanwhile, both maximum and minimum temperature dipped on Monday. The maximum temperature was recorded at 28.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, and the minimum temperature dropped to 16.4 degrees Celsius. Temperatures are likely to drop further this week.