Orange alert in 6 MP districts; Delhi's 4 districts record excess rain: IMD

The India Meteorological Department on Thursday issued orange alert forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall in six districts of Madhya Pradesh, as it said four districts in Delhi have recorded "large excess" rainfall this monsoon season.

The weather department also issued yellow alert forecasting heavy rainfall in 17 districts of Madhya Pradesh.

Rain-related incidents have claimed two lives in the state so far, officials said.

An orange alert warning of rains ranging from 64.5 to 204.4 mm in 24 hours at isolated places was issued for the districts of Rajgarh, Shajapur, Agar-Malwa, Mandsaur, Guna and Ashok Nagar.

The yellow alert forecast of rainfall ranging from 64.5 to 115.5 mm at isolated places was issued for Sheopur, Morena, Bhind, Neemuch, Shivpuri, Gwalior, Datia, Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore, Hoshangabad, Dhar, Dewas, Narsinghpur, Tikamgarh, Niwari and Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.

Both the alerts are valid till Friday morning, P K Saha, senior meteorologist, IMD, Bhopal said.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said four districts in the national capital have recorded "large excess" rainfall, while three districts have gauged "excess" precipitation so far this monsoon season.

Only northeast Delhi has recorded "deficit" rainfall, 149.9 mm against the normal of 332.2 mm, since June 1, when the monsoon season starts.

Overall, the national capital has received 40 per cent "excess" rainfall so far--409.9 mm against the normal of 293.4 mm, it said.

Central Delhi, which was the most rain-deficient district in India till July 11, has recorded 62 per cent more rainfall -- 537.5 mm against the long-period average of 332.2 mm.

Despite the monsoon embracing Delhi only on July 13, making it the most-delayed in 19 years, the city had recorded 16 rainy days in the month, the maximum in the last four years, according to the IMD.

The weather department has predicted normal rainfall -- 95 to 106 per cent of the long-period average -- for Delhi in the month of August.

The IMD measures monsoon performance in five categories -- 'large excess' (rainfall is above 60 per cent of normal), 'excess' (20 per cent to 59 per cent more than average), 'normal' (minus 19 to 19 per cent of normal), 'deficit' (minus 20 per cent to minus 59 per cent) and 'large deficit' (60 per cent below normal).

The maximum temperature hovered close to normal limits at most places in Haryana and Punjab on Thursday.

According to the meteorological department, Chandigarh received 10 mm rainfall, Rohtak (30 mm) and Ludhiana (1 mm).

Ambala in Haryana recorded a maximum temperature of 31.6 degrees Celsius, while Hisar registered a high of 35 degrees Celsius.

Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a maximum temperature of 33 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a high of 34.5 degrees Celsius. Ludhiana recorded 34.2 degrees, while Patiala's maximum settled at 32.6 degrees and that of Gurdaspur was 33.9 degrees Celsius.

Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 35.3 degrees Celsius on Thursday, one notch above the season's average, the MeT said.

The minimum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for Delhi, settled at 26.5 degrees Celsius -- considered normal for this time of the year.

The weather department has predicted "generally cloudy sky with light rain" for Friday in the city.

Delhi's air quality was also in the 'satisfactory' category. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed that the hourly air quality index (AQI) at 6.05 pm stood at 100.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".