June 24: Delhi’s date with monsoon

The monsoon is expected to arrive in Delhi on June 24, bringing relief from heat and improving air quality, with light rains already reported.

The national weather agency predicted that the rainy season is likely to arrive over Delhi on Tuesday, even as the Capital on Friday experienced another pleasant day with overcast skies and light showers keeping temperatures at a tolerable level.

Cloud above Lodhi Garden in New Delhi on Friday. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said conditions were now favourable for the onset of the southwest monsoon in Delhi on June 24—three days ahead of the usual date of June 27.

If the forecast holds, this will be the earliest arrival of monsoon in Delhi since 2013, when it reached the city on June 16. Last year, the monsoon arrived on June 28, while in 2023, it reached the city on June 25.

IMD has issued a yellow alert for the weekend, predicting spells of rain, thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds over the next two days. The cloudy skies and occasional rain are expected to persist, offering respite from the heat that gripped the city earlier this month.

“Southwest monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of Bihar and east Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, some parts of west Uttar Pradesh, most parts of Uttarakhand, many parts of Himachal Pradesh and some parts of Ladakh,” IMD said.

Conditions are favourable for further advance of the rainy season over remaining parts of north Arabian Sea, some more parts of Rajasthan, remaining parts of West Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other parts of north India over the weekend.

“Conditions are also becoming favourable for further advance of monsoon over remaining parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh; some parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi during subsequent two days,” the Met department added.

The arrival of the monsoon is also expected to bring respite to the unexpected heat that Delhi experiences in the summer.

Though June has not seen any widespread or prolonged heatwave, isolated parts of the city recorded heatwave conditions between June 9 and 12. Ayanagar saw heatwave-level temperatures on three of those four days, with Lodhi Road and the Ridge area joining it on June 10. Mungeshpur experienced similar conditions on June 12.

May, however, remained free of heatwaves due to frequent pre-monsoon showers. Delhi received 186.4mm of rainfall last month, significantly higher than the long period average (LPA) of 30.7mm. With the monsoon expected to arrive early, June could follow a similar trend. Safdarjung, the city’s base weather station, has already recorded 87.8mm of rain—surpassing the monthly LPA of 74.1mm. Last year, Delhi received 243.4mm of rain in June, most of it falling on a single day—June 28—when the monsoon arrived.

The rainfall is also helping clear the air. Delhi recorded its cleanest air in nearly nine months on Friday, with the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) falling to 75, in the “satisfactory” category. It was the third straight day of “satisfactory” air for the city, following AQI readings of 89 on Thursday and 81 on Wednesday. Friday’s AQI was the cleanest since September 28, 2024, when it stood at 67.

With more rain expected over the weekend, air quality is likely to remain in the satisfactory range, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi. “The air quality is likely to remain satisfactory from Saturday to Monday. For the following week, it may vary between the satisfactory and moderate categories,” AQEWS said.

Several areas in Delhi received light showers on Friday afternoon. According to IMD data, the Ridge recorded 6.2mm of rainfall, Delhi University 4mm, and Pusa 0.5mm between 11:30am and 2:30pm. IMD officials said the current cloud cover, along with moist easterly winds, is expected to continue, keeping temperatures moderate and paving the way for monsoon’s arrival early next week.