Monsoon’s here,before scheduled time

Last year,the arrival of monsoon was delayed by a week. Just 1.2 mm rainfall was experienced in the month of June last year,making it one of the most dry months. This time the situation is different. The first pre-monsoon showers that were experienced on June 13 brought 90.2 mm rainfall. It rained heavily on Saturday as well. It was in the year 2008 that monsoon had arrived on June 16. This year,monsoon advanced at a fast rate throughout the country. The rainfall has also been normal.

The Met Department on Sunday announced the arrival of monsoon in the region. It was predicted that rain showers would be experienced in the city over the next 36 hours. Thereafter,the rainfall activity would witness a decline for four days.

The rain over the past two days has brought down the day temperature. The maximum temperature was on Sunday recorded as 28 degrees Celsius,10 degrees below normal,while the minimum temperature was recorded as 21.2 degrees Celsius,four degrees below normal. While 58.5 mm rainfall was recorded till 8.30 am,thereafter 18.3 mm rainfall was experienced. The normal rainfall is 4.1 mm. After raining incessantly during the morning,it was in the afternoon that rainfall stopped and the sun came out. The humidity level remained high at 98 per cent.

While the rain brought a respite from the heat,waterlogging created problems. The roads in some sectors were choked with water,notwithstanding the claims that cleaning of road gullies had started in April.

The demand for power also came down with the temperature cooling down. However,electricity woes due to technical faults continued to persist. The rain also disrupted the train and air traffic in the city. The arrival and departure of several trains was delayed.