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Monsoon likely to start retreating from parts of northwest India in next 2 days
An anti-cyclonic wind pattern has set in over some parts of northwest India, heralding dry weather conditions over western Rajasthan, Punjab and adjoining areas of Haryana for the next five days, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday
An anti-cyclonic wind pattern has set in over some parts of northwest India, heralding dry weather conditions over western Rajasthan, Punjab and adjoining areas of Haryana for the next five days, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday. Other parts of northwest India are, however, likely to continue to experience rainfall.
A heavy rainfall spell is likely over Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh till September 21, and over Vidarbha and east Madhya Pradesh till September 22, along with a low-pressure formation over northwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal.
“Conditions are becoming favourable for the withdrawal of monsoon from parts of northwest India and Kutch during the next two days due to anti-cyclonic flow over northwest India at lower tropospheric levels,” the IMD said in a bulletin on Monday.
The normal date for the monsoon to commence its withdrawal from northwest India is September 17.
Last year, the retreating monsoon began its course after mid-October and completely withdrew from the country by October 25, the seventh most delayed since 1975, the IMD said. This year, the process started a month earlier as compared to last year.
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The normal date for a complete withdrawal of the monsoon from the country is October 15. The southwest monsoon retreated on or after October 25 five times between 2010 and 2021 — in 2017, 2010, 2016, 2020 and 2021, IMD data showed.
“There is an anti-cyclonic wind pattern over several parts of northwest India. Over west Rajasthan and Punjab, there has been no rainfall for 5-6 days, the air is dry. We will announce the withdrawal of monsoon from these areas, particularly in districts such as Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, etc. But monsoon will not withdraw from other parts of northwest India now. We have not announced the monsoon withdrawal date for Delhi yet as some parts of northwest India may get rainfall for a few more days,” said RK Jenamani, senior scientist of the national weather forecasting centre at IMD.
“Monsoon withdrawal from Delhi may take time. We are expecting some weather activities over Delhi until September 25-26. This is because the low-pressure area that formed over Bay of Bengal may travel towards eastern Uttar Pradesh. Monsoon, however, will withdraw from Saurashtra, Kutch, west Rajasthan over the next 24-48 hours. The wind direction over Delhi is variable now, a mix of westerly and easterly,” explained Mahesh Palawat, vice president of climate change and meteorology at Skymet Weather Services.
Monsoon withdrawal can begin from northwest India when there is cessation of rainfall activity over the area for 5 consecutive days, which is the establishment of anti-cyclone in the lower troposphere and considerable reduction in moisture content.
Anti-cyclone is an area of high pressure and normally brings calm weather for a few days to the particular region.
Meanwhile, isolated very heavy rainfall is also expected over Odisha till September 21, while moderate rainfall with thunderstorm/lightning is very likely over coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam on September 20 and over Telangana till September 21.
Widespread light/moderate rainfall with isolated heavy rain and thunderstorm/lightning is very likely over Uttarakhand and southeast Uttar Pradesh over the next few days.
