All clear for Games, clouds start moving away from city

If all goes well, the monsoon is likely to withdraw from all of northwest India  before the start of the Commonwealth Games. Met officials say weather changes, including a decrease in cloud cover, have started and monsoon will start withdrawing from September 28.

According to Met director general Dr Ajit Tyagi, this indicates relatively pleasant weather for Delhi, at least during the first week of October. "According to indications, the monsoon should withdraw from northwest India before October 3. However, there could still be a possibility of light showers over isolated areas. It is too soon to predict anything other than the date of withdrawal," he said. The Met department will hold a daily meeting from Monday to analyse the withdrawal trend. "On Monday, we will find out more details about the expected weather in October," added Tyagi.

Sources said signs of changing weather are in the air. "An anticyclonic circulation has started developing over west Rajasthan and nearby areas. Northwest India has not seen any significant rain over the past three days and one pre-requisite for the withdrawal of monsoon is that it should not rain for five consecutive days. There is a decrease in humidity and clouds," said B P Yadav, director, IMD.

Delhiites, meanwhile, have already started experiencing the October nip in the air. Sunday was a drowsy, sunny day with a pleasant breeze blowing for most part of the day.

The maximum and minimum temperatures were 32.6 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal and 23 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal, respectively. Officials said the city was currently experiencing cool northwesterly winds and that mainly dry weather was expected over northwest India and adjoining Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

So far, the Safdarjung observatory in Delhi, the city's official Met record keeper, has recorded 1,031mm rain, making it one of the wettest years in the past century. Till September 22, none of the city's eight districts were facing a rainfall deficient. In fact, New Delhi and central Delhi districts recorded a surplus of 56% and 52% respectively. Northwest India so far has a surplus of 14% while the country is seeing a surplus of 3% rain.