{"id":46477,"date":"2025-05-03T11:53:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T06:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=46477"},"modified":"2025-05-17T22:35:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T17:05:29","slug":"delhi-record-rain-second-highest-single-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/delhi-record-rain-second-highest-single-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Delhi\u2019s Record Rain: Second Highest Single-Day Rainfall in May Since 1901"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Delhi Rainfall May 2024 Latest News<\/li>\n<li>What Happened Over Delhi on Friday<\/li>\n<li>5 Key Reasons Behind Delhi\u2019s Intense Rainfall<\/li>\n<li>Delhi Rainfall May 2024 FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Delhi Rainfall May 2024 Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Delhi experienced an intense pre-monsoon weather event due to a rare combination of high atmospheric moisture, clashing wind patterns, and strong vertical air movement (dynamic lift).\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>What began as mild drizzle soon turned into a severe downpour. It became the second-highest single-day rainfall for May since 1901, with the heaviest being 119.3 mm in 2021.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The heavy rain overwhelmed the city&#8217;s infrastructure, causing waterlogging, power cuts, flight delays, and resulting in five deaths.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What Happened Over Delhi on Friday<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dual Moisture Plumes Over Delhi<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>On May 2 morning, Delhi was positioned beneath two major moisture-laden wind systems \u2014 easterlies from the Bay of Bengal and southerlies from the Arabian Sea.\n<ul>\n<li>Easterlies are winds that blow from the east toward the west.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>In India, they often originate from the Bay of Bengal, carrying moisture inland.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>These winds can significantly influence weather patterns, especially during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Formation of a Convergence Zone<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>These wind systems collided over Delhi-NCR, creating a strong low-level convergence zone where moist air was forced to rise.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Atmospheric Lifting<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>As the converging moist air was squeezed upwards, it triggered intense cloud formation and precipitation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Transitional Weather Phase<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>May is a transition period for northern India, making such weather phenomena more likely, though their intensity depends on additional factors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Role of Troughs<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The presence of troughs \u2014 elongated low-pressure zones \u2014 further intensified the convergence and rainfall in the region.\n<ul>\n<li>A trough is an elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure, often associated with unsettled weather.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It helps channel moisture and lift air, contributing to cloud formation, rainfall, and thunderstorms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>5 Key Reasons Behind Delhi\u2019s Intense Rainfall<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Western Disturbance and Cyclonic Circulations<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>A Western Disturbance, seen as a cyclonic circulation over south Punjab, north Rajasthan, and west Haryana, interacted with multiple upper-air cyclonic circulations across southwest and northeast Rajasthan.<\/li>\n<li>This intensified regional instability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Shifting Upper-Air Systems<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>A cyclonic system moved from southeast Rajasthan to northeast Rajasthan and northwest Madhya Pradesh, altering wind patterns and contributing to strong vertical air movement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Active Monsoon Trough<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The presence of a monsoon trough from west Madhya Pradesh to north Kerala helped channel moist air from the southern peninsula into the northern plains, feeding the storm system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strong Surface Winds Over Delhi<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Delhi experienced strong westerly surface winds (20\u201325 kmph, gusting up to 54 kmph) that enhanced the vertical lift by interacting with incoming moist air, promoting convection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Powerful Convective Activity and Himalayan Influence<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Intense upward motion of heat and moisture (convection) led to the formation of towering cumulonimbus clouds (up to 13 km high), indicated by satellite visuals of overshooting tops.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>Cumulonimbus clouds are large, towering clouds associated with thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>They form due to intense upward motion of warm, moist air and can reach heights over 13 km, often producing lightning, strong winds, and hail.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Cool winds descending from the Himalayas since midnight also contributed to thunderstorm formation.<br \/>\n\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Delhi Rainfall May 2024 FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.<\/strong> Why did Delhi receive heavy rain in May 2024?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> Due to a rare clash of easterlies and southerlies, convergence zones, and strong vertical air movement.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2.<\/strong> What is a convergence zone?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> It&#8217;s a region where opposing wind systems meet, forcing air upward and causing cloud formation and heavy rain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3.<\/strong> What role did the trough play in Delhi\u2019s rain?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The trough intensified moist air uplift, increasing rainfall and storm severity across Delhi.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4.<\/strong> Which clouds caused Delhi\u2019s storm?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> Towering cumulonimbus clouds formed due to convective activity, reaching 13 km and triggering heavy downpour.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5.<\/strong> What were the effects of the rain in Delhi?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The rain caused waterlogging, flight delays, power outages, and resulted in five reported fatalities.<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/business\/opinion-trading-platforms-sebi-warned-investors-9975981\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/business\/sebi-warns-investors-against-opinion-trading-platforms-9973286\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Delhi saw its second-highest single-day May rainfall since 1901 due to rare atmospheric conditions and strong moisture-laden winds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-46477","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}