From Sunday, Delhi and its adjoining states Punjab and Haryana are likely to experience continuous rainfall typical of the rainy season as the monsoon trough is likely to shift to its normal position, weather forecasting agencies said.
Since the beginning of July, the northern plains have received only patchy rains as the axis of the monsoon trough had been oscillating north and south frequently (towards and away from the Himalayan foothills), Skymet Weather said.
The trough will move north and stabilize for the next 3-4 days, it said, adding a significant increase in rainfall in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab can be expected from July 19-21. For the same period, the IMD has issued a red warning for heavy rainfall in West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
The prediction in increase in intensity of rainfall is also aided by a convergence of moist southerly, south-westerly winds from Bay of Bengal in eastern India and from the Arabian Sea over northwest India at lower tropospheric levels.
Though the expected downpour is likely to offer some relief to people in north India from the sultry weather, it almost certainly will "accentuate" the existing flood situation in Assam and other northeastern states and may trigger landslides, the IMD said.