The national capital and surrounding areas are likely to experience heavy rainfall till Sunday, the weather department said on Wednesday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a statement predicting a spell of heavy to very heavy rainfall over North-West and East India, and very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over North-East India during the next four to five days.
The South-West monsoon, which arrived in Kerala two days earlier than usual on 30 May, covered the entire country six days ahead of the normal date of 8 July. However, its progress slowed down after reaching Maharashtra, delaying the arrival of rains in several states like West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, which were grappling with a heatwave.
From 11 June to 27 June, India experienced 16 days of below-normal rainfall, resulting in an overall below-normal rainfall of 147.2 mm for the month, compared to the usual 165.3 mm. This marked the seventh lowest rainfall record since 2001.
June rainfall constitutes 15% of the total precipitation of 87 cm recorded during the country’s four-month monsoon season. The IMD, in a statement on 1 July, expressed the possibility of India experiencing above-normal rainfall in July. This could potentially lead to floods in the western Himalayan states and river basins in central India.
As of now, the national rainfall deficiency stands at 5% since the beginning of the four-month (June-September) monsoon season.
