New Delhi: Incessant moderate showers on Tuesday took the total rainfall in Delhi over 1,000mm this year. By 5:30 pm, the city received 1,017.2mm of rainfall, well above the normal annual average of 774.4mm. India Meteorological Department has forecast similar weather conditions to continue this week. Light or moderate rain is likely at most places on Wednesday.While the city witnessed 1,128.4 mm of rainfall in 2024, 888.9mm was recorded in 2023; 811.4mm in 2022; 1,526.8mm in 2021 and 765.4mm in 2020.Safdarjung, the city’s base station, logged 37mm in the 24 hours till 8.30 am on Tuesday. Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, it received another 16mm. During this period, Palam logged 8.9mm; Ridge 20.6mm, Lodhi Road 7.8mm, Najafgarh 26mm, Rajghat 0.4mm, Ayanagar 5.3mm and Pusa 8.5mm.Delhi crossed its annual rainfall mark of 774.4mm on Aug 14, marking the fastest such development since 2021, when the annual mark was breached on Aug 1.Delhi’s maximum temperature on Tuesday stood at 29.4 degrees C, which was five degrees below normal. The minimum was 21.7 degrees C, which was also five degrees below normal. The maximum is forecast to be between 31 and 33 degrees C on Wednesday and the minimum between 21 and 23.Meanwhile, the rain helped clean Delhi’s air quality a tad. The average air quality index was 52 (satisfactory) at 4 pm. It was 60 (satisfactory) at the same time on Monday. While not many waterlogging complaints were received by civic agencies on Tuesday, traffic jams were witnessed during peak evening hours in several areas. A tree fell on Ferozeshah Road during the day.Google Maps showed a long red line near Mahipalpur on the NH-8 stretch from Gurgaon to Delhi. On Rani Jhansi Road, traffic piled up near Jhandewalan Mandir and DB Gupta Crossing. The Zakhira flyover and Anand Parvat stretch also showed a deep red line, indicating a long snarl. Between Nangloi and Mundka too, heavy congestion was witnessed. At GB Road and Ajmeri Gate, some commuters were stuck for over an hour. Other dark red stretches appeared near Kashmere Gate and Red Fort. One commuter posted on X: “Heavy traffic jam on DND from Noida towards Delhi. People have parked their cars on the bridge and are seeing the floods in the Yamuna.”
