Lucknow: Light to heavy rain lashed large parts of Uttar Pradesh on Friday, with Meerut and Muzaffarnagar posting rare July totals that placed them among the highest rainfall days in their observational histories for the month. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said similar conditions are likely to persist across most districts till Saturday, before easing gradually.“A low-pressure area is over central UP. Besides, a monsoon trough line (an elongated low-pressure area) is passing from over UP. Also, there is moisture feed from the Bay of Bengal. The three factors together are responsible for the widespread rains witnessed across the state,” Mohammad Danish, senior scientist at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Lucknow, said. He added that rainfall activity would continue in most parts of the state and then decline.IMD data showed the Meerut meteorological observatory recorded 181.3 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours from 8.30 am Thursday to 8.30 am Friday, the second-highest July rainfall in 156 years, since the station was established in 1870. The highest July 24-hour total at the observatory remains 227.1 mm recorded on July 20, 1909.Muzaffarnagar’s observatory, set up in 1980, recorded 212.4 mm in the same 24-hour window, making it the third-highest July total since the station began operations. Earlier records include 306 mm on July 28, 1983, and 213.6 mm on July 28, 1981.Rainfall was even higher in some local pockets, though these figures will not enter official records because they were not measured at IMD observatories. Mawana in Meerut district reported 315 mm, while Jansath in Muzaffarnagar district logged 270.1 mm.Several other districts recorded heavy rainfall over the 24-hour period. Barabanki and Mirzapur recorded 160 mm each, Chandauli 103.5 mm, Bijnor 81.6 mm, Banda 81.2 mm, and Saharanpur, Balrampur and Basti 81 mm each. Auraiya and Kanpur city recorded 73.2 mm.The spell has also helped reduce Uttar Pradesh’s seasonal rainfall deficit over the past four days. The overall per-district average improved from 54% below normal on June 30 to 17% below normal by Friday. West Uttar Pradesh saw the sharpest turnaround, moving from 47% below normal to 25% above normal, while eastern districts improved from 58% below normal to 40% below normal.Lucknow records 47.8 mm rain in 24 hoursIn Lucknow, total rainfall in the past 24 hours till 8.30 am on Friday was 34.5 mm and from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm, 13.3 mm. The city has also been receiving light to moderate rainfall in the past three days. As a result, the rain deficit of UP has improved from 80% below normal to 50% below normal. A cloudy sky and intermittent drizzles all day kept weather pleasant in the state capital. The maximum temperature was 32.3 degrees Celsius and the minimum 26.2 degrees Celsius. Though relative humidity was high (oscillating between 77%-97%), cool winds kept discomfort levels under control.Rainfall reaches above-normal status in 15 districtsThe monsoon arrived late in UP this year, resulting in poor rainfall in June. The monsoon normally reaches the state by June 18 and Lucknow by June 23. But this year, it arrived in UP on June 30 and Lucknow on July 2. The currents were initially weak, but revived four days ago and improved the situation. Now, of 75 districts, the rainfall from June 1 till date in 15 has reached above-normal status and 18 are at normal levels in the same period, while 42 districts are still under the deficient category. On June 30, the situation was bad: only one district was in the above-normal category, 11 under normal and 63 deficient.
