Monsoon retreat likely to begin from end of next week, says IMD, forecasts light rain in Delhi today
The weather department said the withdrawal of monsoon from West Rajasthan would create a conducive condition for the onset of winter.
The India Meteorological Department on Friday said that the southwest monsoon will start retreating from west Rajasthan by the end of next week, PTI reported.
The department said that conditions were likely to be favourable in the next two days for the withdrawal of monsoon, adding that the north Indians plains were witnessing above normal temperatures.
“These are one of the weather patterns we see when conditions are ripe for monsoon withdrawal,” IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said. “From September 20 onwards, we don’t see the possibility of monsoon rains in west Rajasthan.”
The weather forecasting agency added that the withdrawal of monsoon from West Rajasthan creates a conducive condition for the onset of winter.
Meanwhile, the IMD also forecast that will there is a possibility of “light rain/drizzle” in Delhi and a partly cloudy sky, according to Hindustan Times. However, the maximum and minimum temperatures were likely to continue to stay high due to high moisture levels, it added.
“A drizzle may only increase the humidity levels,” an IMD scientist said. “Delhi may get some reprieve because of strong surface winds over the next few days and a possibility of rain or thundershowers on September 23-24.”
The maximum temperature in the Capital was 38 degrees Celsius on Friday, three degrees above the average temperature. The night temperature was 27.8 degrees Celsius, also three notches above the normal.
Several regions of central and south India in the next two days are also likely to receive heavy rainfall, IMD said.
It has further issued an orange warning for Goa, Kerala, and parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka and for Saturday. On Sunday, the same alert has been issued for Goa, Kerala, Odisha, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
This year, India has so far received 7% more rainfall than normal.
The northwest division, comprising Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, has a 15% deficiency.
In the central India division, 14% more rainfall than normal was recorded. It consists of Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
The south region has received 28% more rainfall and comprises Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
In the east and northeast division, 2% more rainfall than normal was recorded. The division covers Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.