New Delhi, July 24
Rainfall: Rain/thundershowers have occurred at most places in east Uttar Pradesh, at many places in west Uttar Pradesh, at a few places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and at isolated places in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and east Rajasthan. Weather was mainly dry in the rest of the region.

The chief amounts of rainfall in cm are: Haryana: New Delhi (SFD) 1, Himachal Pradesh: Dharamsala 9, Nagota Surain 3, Guler and Palampur 2 each and Abohar, Gohar, Kasol, Nurpur and Nadaun 1 each, East Rajasthan: Bari 2 and Amet, Gyangarh, Kareda, Kelwara, Masuda and Todabhim 1 each, East Uttar Pradesh: Bhatpurwaghat 14, Varanasi A.P. 11, Basti F.M., Elginbridge, Jaunpur F.M. and Neemsar 9 each, Lucknow A.P. and Ghazipur 8 each, Allahabad, Chhatnag and Ghazipur F.M. 7 each, Sultanpur and Phaphamau 6 each, Bani, Birdghat, Chillaghat, Raebareilly F.M. Shardanagar and Varanasi F.M. 5 each, Varanasi city 4, Gorakhpur, Fursatganj, Hanuman Setu, Kakardharighat, Mukhlishpur and Regoli 3 each, Ballia F.M. Bansi, Bhinga, Kakrahi, Kanpur F.M. and Turtipar 2 and Ayodhya, Bahraich, Chandradeepghat, Dalmau, Gonda F.M., Hamirpur, Khadda, Katerniaghat, Mirzapur F.M. Palliankalan and Safipur 1 each, West Uttar Pradesh: Gomatia 2 and Ankinghat, Farrukhabad and Shahjina 1 each and Uttarkhand: Rishikesh 5, Munsiyari 3 and
Hardwar, Narora, Kalagarh and Pantnagar 1 each.

Forecast valid until the morning of July 26, 2008: Rain/thundershowers will occur at many places in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarkhand, at a few places in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and east Rajasthan and at isolated places in the rest of the region.

Heavy rainfall warning: Isolated heavy rain is likely in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand during the next 48 hours.

Outlook for the subsequent two days: Rainfall activity is likely to increase over Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and east Rajasthan while it may decrease in east Uttar Pradesh.

Forecast for Delhi and neighbourhood valid until the morning of July 26, 2008: Partly cloudy sky with possibility of light rain/thundershowers.

Farmers weather bulletin for Delhi: Forecast valid until the morning of 26th July 2008: Light rain/thundershowers are likely at a few places.

Roorkee, July 24
Over the past century it's not just the warmth of mercury that has increased, there has been a substantial increase in the relative humidity and annual rainfall as well. The results of the study, 'Climate change and its impact on hydrological regime', by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), reveals that during the the past 100 years, besides an increase in minimum and maximum temperature, rainfall and humidity have also witnessed an increasing trend.

In the present study, seasonal and annual trends of changes in maximum, minimum and mean temperatures have been examined on the basin scale. The longest available records for 43 stations, varying from 90 to 100 years over the last century, were used in the analysis. The study has been carried out on nine river basins in the north-west and central parts of India.

The study points out that majority of rivers, except two river basins, have shown warming trends. For the warmer basins the range of increase in annual mean temperature has been computed between 0.40 to 0.64 degree Celsius per 100 years and for the cooler basins it varied between minus 0.15 to minus 0.44 degree Celsius. The Narmada river basin has experienced maximum warming during the last century as compared to the other river basins.

"Majority of river basins have shown increasing trend, both in annual rainfall and relative humidity. The magnitude of increased rainfall for considered river basins varied from 2 to 19 per cent of mean per 100 years. The maximum increase in rainfall was observed in the Indus (lower) basin followed by the Tapi river basin. However, most of the river basins have experienced decreasing trend in annual rainy days with the Mahanadi river basin recording the maximum decrease," maintains the study, adding that the heaviest rain of the year has increased by 9 to 27 m per 100 years over different river basins with the Brahamani and Subaranrekha basins registering the maximum increase.

"A combination of increase in heaviest rainfall and reduction in the number of rainy days indicate for the possibility of increasing severity of floods and therefore such information is useful for planning, development and management of water resource ventures," according to the study.