Monsoon 25% excess; more rain in hills, abates in plains

NEW DELHI: India's summer monsoon was 25 per cent surplus since its normal onset on June 1 with the weather office predicting heavy rains next weeks in some parts of hill states, including Uttarakhand which was ravaged by floods last month.

Barring east and north-eastern India, monsoon has been surplus across the other four broad regions with north-west comprising Rajasthan, UP, Uttarakhand, Himachal, J&K, Punjab and Haryana getting 85 per cent excess rains since onset.

Rains are expected to ease next week in southern and western parts of the country allowing farmers to speed up planting of crops.

Timely onset of monsoon and its quick progress across the country had imparted much-needed moisture to the soil enabling farmers to prepare for the kharif crop.

The weather office had forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two places over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, coastal Karnataka and Kerala over the next two days.

The weatherman said heavy rainfall was also expected at one or two places in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh

"Heavy rainfall would occur at one or two places over Jammu & Kashmir during next 24 hours, over Assam & Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh during next 48 hours and over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during next 72 hours," the IMD said in a weather forecast issued this afternoon.

The weather office has also warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, coastal Karnataka and Kerala.

North-west India received 175.6 mm rains since June 1 -- 85 per cent excess over the normal rainfall of 94.9 mm for the period of the season. This excess was because of record heavy rains in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh between June 15-17.

Dehradun had received 601.8 mm rainfall over 57 hours from June 15-17. Similar heavy falls have been witnessed on June 28, 1925 when the Uttarakhand capital received 166 mm rains on a single day. In 1966, Dehradun had experienced 487 mm rainfall on July 25.

In central India, rainfall was 58 per cent excess with the region getting 334.8 mm rains between June 1 and July 5 as against normal rainfall of 212.1 mm for the period.

Rainfall was 29 per cent excess in the southern peninsula which received 250.7 mm rains as against the normal of 194.2 mm.

In the eastern and north-eastern region, rainfall was 37 per cent deficient with the region receiving 267.3 mm rains between June 1 to July 5 as against the normal of 425.4 mm for the period.