Monsoon finally arrives in Delhi, three days late

The southwest monsoon has arrived over the National Capital, the Met department said in an update on Sunday, as frequent downpours cooled temperatures and brought surplus rainfall to northern states

The southwest monsoon has arrived over the National Capital, the Met department said in an update on Sunday, as frequent downpours cooled temperatures and brought surplus rainfall to northern states.

People enjoy the pleasant weather at India Gate in New Delhi on Saturday. (Raj K Raj Hindustan Times)

The rains arrived in Delhi three days behind their scheduled date of arrival (June 29), although the city received robust pre-monsoon showers over the weekend following a spell of sultry weather.

While it has rained in the whole of Delhi, areas around Safdarjung, Lodhi Road, Morni and Pitampura recorded significant amount of around 2cm of rainfall until Sunday morning, the Met said. Heavy rains are predicted over some places across Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Punjab on Sunday as well.

A part of the rain-bearing system had been slow in its progress to Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, while proceeding normally over bordering western Uttar Pradesh.

The monsoon has “further advanced into remaining parts of West Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand & Himachal Pradesh, most parts of Haryana, entire Chandigarh & Delhi and Punjab and some parts of East Rajasthan” a bulletin from the national weather bureau said.

The rains, vital for Asia’s third-largest economy, are predicted to be surplus this year after two years of drought that saw a dire water crisis and brutal heatwaves.

Read: Monsoon mayhem: Flashfloods, landslides claim 30 lives in Uttarakhand, Arunachal

In next 48 hours, the rains will likely advance over some parts of north Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast to reach north Gujarat and eastern Rajasthan, the only areas outside the monsoon cover.

On Saturday, heavy downpours drenched many northern states, including rice bowl Punjab and Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, apart from Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

The monsoon was sluggish and 11% below normal in June after arriving in Kerala on June 8, a week late. The gap now is steadily narrowing. On Thursday, the monsoon was tracking 9% below normal overall since the beginning of the rainy spell. Across northwest India, however, the rains were 5% surplus. Towards south, the rains have been 21% above normal while in central India they are still 12% deficient. The northeast had the highest rain deficit of 28%.

The Met department has said that rainfall in July, the most critical month for farming operation, would be surplus.