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Monsoon may reach Delhi earlier this year, says IMD
IMD scientists said they will confirm the arrival of monsoon in Delhi depending on how favourable the conditions are for its advancement over the next four to five days.
The monsoon has advanced well and reached parts of northwest India on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, and added it is expected to arrive in Delhi earlier than the normal date of June 27. It has covered areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh, western and eastern Madhya Pradesh, IMD said.
IMD scientists said they will confirm the arrival of monsoon in Delhi depending on how favourable the conditions are for its advancement over the next four to five days. “It will be humid and hot with maximum temperature ranging from 40 to 43 degree C in most parts of northwest India including Delhi. But there will be no heat wave condition. We are expecting the monsoon to pick up again from June 19 due to the formation of a low-pressure system and advance towards western Uttar Pradesh,” said Regional Weather Forecasting Centre head Kuldeep Shrivastava.
He said the monsoon could even reach the Delhi suburb of Noida around June 19 or 20. Shrivastava, however, underlined that the department cannot say if the monsoon arrival in Delhi can be announced immediately.
The monsoon arrives in Kerala in June before it covers other parts of the country and starts to retreat by September. It delivers about 70% of India’s annual rainfall. The monsoon is crucial to the cultivation of rice, wheat, sugarcane and soybeans in the country where farming accounts for about 15% of the economy but employs over half of its people. The monsoon is also important for restocking reservoirs and replenishing groundwater.
Monsoon rains lasted longer last year and triggered floods even as it started with the driest June in five years and below-average precipitation in July.
IMD said the monsoon was passing through Kandla and Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Indore, Raisen, and Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) and Fatehpur and Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh, where it has reached at least five days in advance. It added the monsoon, was, however, on a normal track.
National Weather Forecasting Centre head K Sathi Devi said the monsoon had advanced very well so far with help from a low-pressure area, which developed over the Bay of Bengal last week. “The low-pressure system moved inland from the Odisha coast and helped the monsoon advance, bringing a lot of rain. Another low-pressure system is likely to develop over the north Bay of Bengal on June 19. These low-pressure systems move west northwestwards. If they do develop, they will strengthen the monsoon and help it advance further.”
IMD said the low-pressure system, which helped the monsoon flow advance, has weakened now. So, there is unlikely to be any rain in northwest India over the next three days, it added.
It said heavy to very heavy rain is likely in Konkan, Goa and over central Maharashtra during the next two days. IMD said the rainfall intensity over eastern India is likely to increase and heavy to very rainfall is likely over the region, including sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim in the next two days. There will be widespread rain in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram during the next five days, IMD’s Tuesday bulletin said.
