The monsoon, which has remained subdued for the past 10 days, is likely to become stronger again as heavy rain is expected in the city this week, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The weatherman has issued an orange alert for heavy rain in the city from Monday to Wednesday.6 mm of rain recorded; mercury expected to fall by 6°C. (HT PHOTO)IMD’s Chandigarh director Surender Paul said that around a week back, the monsoon axis had shifted to the northeastern states, so the northwestern plains mostly remained without rain. However, this is set to change as the monsoon axis is now shifting westwards again towards this region. Further, he explained that a monsoon trough has formed due to which moisture from the Bay of Bengal will feed the monsoon over the region and can lead to heavy rain.According to the IMD, heavy rain is defined as when 64.5-115.5 mm of rain is recorded in a single day, while very heavy rain ranges from 115.6 mm to 204.4 mm. Orange is the second-highest level in the IMD’s four-colour warning system. It asks people to be prepared.On Sunday morning, 6 mm of rain was recorded. Because of the difference in cloud distribution, different areas of the city are getting different amounts of rain. Even on Sunday morning, 25 mm of rain was recorded at the airport observatory. This was the highest in the region, and greater than all stations of Haryana and Punjab for Sunday.Currently, the monsoon has remained deficient in the city. The IMD data shows that since the beginning of the monsoon, 214.2 mm of rain has been recorded in the city. This is 30.6% below normal for the corresponding period.The temperature, which had remained uncomfortably high, is likely to come down in the coming days. A fall of over 6°C is expected in the next couple of days.The maximum temperature fell from 37.7°C on Saturday to 36°C on Sunday, 2.7°C above normal. The minimum temperature fell from 27.3°C on Saturday to 26.4°C on Sunday, 0.5°C below normal. In the next three days, the maximum temperature will remain between 30°C and 35°C while the minimum temperature will remain between 23°C and 25°C.