Western disturbances bring cool start to May

Frequent, slow-moving western disturbances — essentially, cyclones originating in the Mediterranean Sea and moving east — in the first week of May have resulted in an unusually cool, rainy start to what is usually the peak summer month for northwest India.

- Jayashree Nandi and Abhishek Jha

NEW DELHI:

It has also led to relatively cleaner air in May with all days in "moderate" category so far except one when it dropped to "poor" in Delhi. Now, it emerges that the region may be in for a longer respite: The India Meteorological Department's extended range forecast shows that most of northwest and central India will be cooler than normal at least till May 15, and will receive more rainfall than usual.

During the first week of May, nearly 90% of northwest India (combined area of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Uttarakhand) recorded maximum temperatures that were at least 1°C cooler than normal (1981-2010 average).