Monsoon hits Delhi, covers entire nation 9 days early

The monsoon covered the entire country on Sunday, nine days before the usual date of July 8 and reached Delhi two days ahead, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

According to IMD data, this is the earliest the monsoon has covered the entire country since 2020, when it did so by June 26. "The monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and entire Delhi today," the IMD said in a statement.

It said that heavy to very heavy rain is likely to continue in many parts of northwest, central, east and northeast India over the next seven days.


The southwest monsoon usually makes its onset over Kerala by June 1 and covers the entire country by July 8. It starts retreating from northwest India around September 17 and withdraws completely by October 15.

This year, the monsoon reached Kerala on May 24, its earliest onset over the Indian mainland since 2009, when it arrived on May 23. However, this was followed by a prolonged stagnation of around 18 days, from May 29 to June 16. The monsoon reached Delhi on June 28 last year, June 25 in 2023, June 30 in 2022, July 13 in 2021 and June 25 in 2020. The system covered the entire country by July 2 in 2024, 2023 and 2022; July 13 in 2021 and June 26 in 2020.

In May, the IMD had forecast that India is likely to receive 106 per cent of the long-period average rainfall of 87 cm during the June-September monsoon season. Rainfall between 96 and 104 per cent of this 50-year average is considered 'normal'.

Above-normal rainfall is expected in most parts of the country, except Ladakh, adjoining areas of Himachal Pradesh, the northeast and some parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.

The monsoon is crucial for India's agriculture sector, which supports the livelihood of around 42% of the population and contributes 18.2% to the GDP. It also plays a key role in replenishing reservoirs essential for drinking water and power generation.