Monsoon set to cover entire country 15 days ahead of normal onset
Countrywide rainfall remains 6% below normal since June 1 and the first month of the monsoon season may just close on the threshold of the normal rainfall range, as the current shortfall in the figures may reduce in the next two days.
The southwest monsoon saw a brief hiatus in its movement in the third week of this month, and revived only on last Sunday.
NEW DELHI: The southwest monsoon is poised to cover the entire country in the next two days, almost a fortnight ahead of what it would normally take, even as it reached northwest India, including Delhi, on Thursday.
“Generally, most of the country is covered by July 1, and only the northwestern-most part takes 15 days. This year, because of the western disturbance, we have a lot of rain in northwest India, which has helped in swift advancement of monsoon,” said DS Pai, director for long-range forecasts at the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Western disturbance is a weather system associated with rainfall in the northern part of India. Only Gujarat and some parts of Rajasthan are left to be covered by monsoon showers, and these regions are expected to get rains in the next two days, Pai added. The weather office declared the onset of monsoon over northwest India on Thursday, after the region recorded widespread rainfall in the past couple of days. Rainfall recorded in the region on Thursday was two-and-a-half times more than normal.
The area covered under rainfall, cloudiness and strong easterly winds along the northern region constitute the criteria for declaration of monsoon in the region. Heavy rainfall, as many would assume it is, is not a mandatory for declaring the onset, senior IMD officials explained.
Countrywide rainfall remains 6% below normal since June 1 and the first month of the monsoon season may just close on the threshold of the normal rainfall range, as the current shortfall in the figures may reduce in the next two days.
ADVERTISEMENT
“June will end close to normal — 5% is a very common variability, it is considered normal. You should have a standard deviation of around 12-13% for normal/below normal,” a senior IMD official told ET.
The southwest monsoon saw a brief hiatus in its movement in the third week of this month, and revived only on last Sunday. Overall, rainfall has improved since monsoon regained momentum and the weather office expects normal to above-normal rainfall over the country during the next two weeks.
“Widespread rainfall is expected along the west coast, Northwest and Central India over the next two to three days,” Pai said.
