The southwest monsoon began its retreat on Wednesday, marking the longest-recorded delay in withdrawal of the monsoon season, the India Meteorological Department said, according to PTI.

“In view of the persistence of an anti-cyclonic circulation in the lower tropospheric level over northwest India, gradual reduction in moisture in the lower and mid-tropospheric levels and reduction in rainfall, the southwest monsoon has withdrawn from some parts of Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan today, October 9, 2019 as against the normal date of September 1,” the IMD said. “The most delayed withdrawal in the past years has been recorded in 1961 [1st October 1961], followed by 30th September in 2007.”

The weather department added that conditions were favourable for the withdrawal of the monsoon from some more parts of northwest India over the next two days. The monsoon will withdraw from the rest of India in two or three days following that, the IMD said.

On September 30, the IMD had announced that the monsoon season had officially ended. It also said that this year’s rainfall was the highest since 1994, and declared it “above normal”. The monsoon season officially runs from June 1 to September 30.

This year, the monsoon rainfall was 110% of the long period average, which is the average precipitation recorded for the four-month period between 1961 and 2000. The country had recorded “below normal” rainfall in 2018.

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