Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) The much-awaited monsoon - which got delayed eight days from its scheduled arrival - finally hit Delhi Saturday, with the city recording a total of 40.1 mm rainfall in the first few hours. More rains are likely over the weekend.

“Till 8.30 a.m., Delhi had 40.1 mm rain and by 5:30 in the evening, it recorded only 0.3 mm rainfall which was not much,” said an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The monsoon is expected to last till Sep 18 but its position might change, said the IMD.

The maximum temperature was recorded six notches below average at 30.3 degrees. The minimum temperature settled at 23.2 - four notches below average.

Despite no heavy rain during the day, major traffic intersections in the capital witnessed traffic snarls during peak hours.

However, traffic police claimed to have cleared all the snarls by the evening. “There were traffic jams in the morning but all have been cleared by now,” said an official from the traffic department.

The met department has forecast more spells of rain Sunday.

According to the IMD, on Sunday, the minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to hover around 33 and 24 degrees Celsius respectively.

After undergoing unrelenting heat for several days, the capital had pre-monsoon showers Friday evening which brought down the maximum temperature to 38.4 degrees Celsius, two notches below the average for the season.