Taking into account the weather data of Delhi from last five years, January 2016 was the warmest followed by January 2017. As per the Safdarjung observatory, the average maximum and minimum temperatures along with the cumulative rainfall since 2013 depicts that January 2016 was the driest ever recorded in history.
The first month of the year 2016 failed to witness any significant winter rain and hence, the Safdarjung observatory managed to record only 1 mm of rain. On the other hand, Delhi recorded the highest rainfall in January 2017. By the end of January, this year, a total of 33.7 mm of rainfall was observed by the Safdarjung observatory.
The average weather pattern recorded by the Safdarjung Observatory in a span of five years is depicted below:
The reason for good rainfall in this month can be attributed to successive active Western Disturbances. This weather system resulted in heavy to very heavy snowfall in the northern hills. Simultaneously induced Cyclonic Circulations over Haryana and Delhi led to good winter rainfall over the northern plains including the capital of the country.
Despite witnessing heavy rains, temperatures in the national capital remained exceptionally high. The monthly average maximum temperature recorded for the national capital was 21.2°C. While the average minimums settled at 8.7°C.
This is primarily the reason why January 2017 was still the second warmest January in the last five years. This weather pattern clearly shows climate change and it can be said that global warming has been affecting the planet in terms of rising temperatures. Moreover, if this trend continues, the forthcoming years can be expected to witness more extreme temperatures and warmer weather.
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