Despite active monsoon conditions and favourable weather systems over Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur is still waiting for widespread heavy rainfall. The city has witnessed only light showers over the past few days, bringing little relief from humid weather. On Tuesday afternoon, dark clouds covered the sky and thunder and lightning raised hopes of heavy rain. However, the clouds passed after light showers in a few areas, leaving residents disappointed. In contrast, several districts of the Jabalpur division, including Chhindwara and Balaghat, received good rainfall. Spokesman of Weather Department said an active monsoon trough extending from southwest Rajasthan to the Bay of Bengal is influencing weather over Madhya Pradesh. He said moderate to heavy rainfall is likely to occur in Jabalpur and most districts of the division during the next 24 to 48 hours. So far this monsoon, rainfall in Jabalpur has remained well below normal. By July 7 last year, the city had received around 391.1 mm of rain.

 

This year, the figure stands at only 148.03 mm, leaving a deficit of more than 240 mm. During the last 24 hours, only 5.6 mm of rainfall was recorded in the city. The maximum temperature settled at 30.6 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 25.2 degrees Celsius. Weather experts said July is usually the most active month of the monsoon and contributes nearly 40% of the season’s rainfall. Jabalpur normally records about 17 inches of rain during the month. The Weather Department has also issued a warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall in parts of Madhya Pradesh over the next six days. Strong winds of 40 to 60 kmph may accompany rain in some areas. If the current weather systems remain active, the rainfall deficit in Jabalpur is expected to reduce significantly in the coming days.