The capital defied the odds this monsoon. As of Sept 16, Delhi had a season's rainfall surplus of 8% in a meteorological subdivision (Haryana) that's reeling under a 23% deficit and a region (northwest India) that has logged a 10% shortfall. The season's unusual rainfall pattern suggests that a strengthening El Nino as well as climate change may have played a role in giving the capital an unlikely monsoon bounty.
A look at the season's district-level rainfall map of the region shows Delhi literally at the edge of the good monsoon zone this year (see graphic). Just north of the capital lies a swathe of deficient districts, starting with neighbouring Sonipat (-32%) and Rohtak (-47%) and extending all the way to Hoshiarpur (-53%) and Kapurthala (-69%) in Punjab - a cluster of over 30 rain-starved districts across Haryana and Punjab, as well as adjoining Rajasthan, Himachal and west UP.
