Weather forecasts show no sign of good rain spell in Delhi till month-end

Cloudy weather is predicted in Delhi on Wednesday and a good spell of rain is unlikely till August-end, weather forecasters have said.

The city recorded a minimum temperature of 25.7 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 34 degrees Celsius.

The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, has recorded just 33.7 mm of rainfall so far in August against a normal of 191.1 mm -- a deficit of 82 per cent.

Normally, the observatory gauges 247 mm of rainfall in August, the wettest month of the year.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a generally cloudy sky and very light rain in Delhi over the next five to six days.

Weather experts have attributed the rain deficit to the lack of any major weather system, such as a low-pressure area, near the capital.

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (climate change and meteorology), Skymet Weather, said not much rain is expected in Delhi until August-end.

A low-pressure area is developing in the north Bay of Bengal. Models show it will travel in the northwest direction across Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. Delhi and its neighbouring areas may get rain under its impact, Palawat said.

According to Skymet Weather's long-range forecast, no major weather system is likely to develop in the first half of September, which means the rain deficit may persist.