Moderate rains in Delhi, 50 mm rainfall during the day, more ahead

New Delhi, Sep 1 (UNI) For the second time this week, the capital received profuse showers today, bringing cheer on the faces of rain-starved Delhiites and bringing tremendous coolness in the weather.

All through the day, Delhi was hit by light to moderate rains which, together with the strong Easterly winds plummeted mercury by several degrees.

While the maximum temperature dropped sharply to 29 degrees Celsius, five degrees below normal, the minimum too dropped to 24 degrees Celcius.

Altogether over 50 mm of rainfall was recorded since midnight last to 2330 hrs tonight, the weather office said.

While the first phase of rainfall hit Delhi in the wee hours of the morning, the second phase occurred towards the evening. Later in the night, a short burst of heavy showers lashed Delhi.

Today's showers follow the heavy showers on Wednesday morning which resulted in nearly 60 mm of rainfall in the capital.

The weathermen have forecast more rains during the weekend with the Northwesterly movement of the monsoon depression which lay over east Madhya Pradesh yesterday.

''The depression moved in a west-northwesterly direction and lay centred at 1430 hrs IST yesterday afternoon near 24 degrees North latitude and 78 degrees East longitude, about 50 km west-northwest of Sagar. The system is likely to move in a northwesterly direction,'' the Met office said.

Under its influence, fairly widespread rainfall is likely over rest of Madhya Pradesh, north Gujarat region and northeast Rajasthan during the next 48 hours.

Subsequently with the likely northwestwards movement of the system and its interaction with a Western disturbance, enhanced rainfall belt is likely to shift into parts of northwest India.

Weathermen have forecast a fairly widespread rainfall activity over the entire Northwest region during the next two to three days, presenting the possibility of the capital witnessing a cool and wet weekend.

UNI AR SRS VP00035