Monsoon this year began on a poor note across the country including Uttar Pradesh. East U.P was facing a rainfall deficit of 56% in June and 25% in the month of July. The situation hasn’t improved much as the deficit in the state presently stands at 40%. This is despite the rains that caused floods in some parts of east U.P.
The three main cities of east Uttar Pradesh – Allahabad, Lucknow and Kanpur – are situated on huge water bodies like Ganga and Gomti which also affect the day to day weather parameters of the cities to a large extent.
The normal position of the Monsoon trough passes through Allahabad due to which the trio is more prone to weather activity. They generally observe light winds, on many occasions they are absolutely calm. Under such conditions even a combination of moderate temperature and humidity can make the weather very uncomfortable.
This trio has been experiencing very poor rainfall during August, particularly during the second half of the month. Allahabad has observed 11 dry days in a row, Kanpur 15 and Lucknow 7.
Temperatures have also been on a rising spree with Allahabad recording 38.7°C as the maximum temperature on Wednesday, 27th August, which is an all-time high. The earlier record was of 37.4°C recorded on 9th August, 2009.
Similarly, Lucknow recorded 38.1°C as the maximum on 27th August, highest in last ten years. Previous highest was 37.8°C, recorded on 9th August, 2010.
Kanpur too saw the maximum settle at 38°C on 27th and 28th August, which is the second highest in last ten years.
The rainfall records in these cities in the month of August do not paint a rosy picture either. Allahabad has received 193 mm of rain against the monthly average of 279 mm. Lucknow has received 183 mm against 255 mm and least 52.5 has been in Kanpur against the average of 233 mm.
However, with the shift in the Monsoon trough and the setting in of the easterlies has resulted in some comfort in these cities. The temperatures will drop to settle in the mid thirties for a couple of days.
Picture courtesy:shahernama.com
