Spelling respite for parched lands, the Southwest Monsoon advanced over Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar. The Northern Limit of Monsoon is currently passing through Deesa, Indore, Pachmarhi, Mandla, Ambikapur, Hazaribagh and Supaul.
The IMD said conditions are favourable for its further advance over remaining parts of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar, some parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and some parts of East Uttar Pradesh over the next two days.
After arriving early over the Kerala coast (its earliest onset in 16 years) the Southwest Monsoon hit a pause last week. The stall in the monsoon also hampered sowing in some regions—a major worry for farmers of the agricultural tracts dependent on seasonal rains.
Monsoon rains form a substantial part of India’s annual rainfall, thereby making it critical for India’s overall economy by replenishing reservoirs, groundwater, and two-third of India’s agricultural track.
This year monsoon made an early onset over Kerala on May 24, marking its earliest arrival since 2009 and eight days ahead of the June 1 onset date, reaching Mizoram on the same day, 12 days ahead of its normal schedule. Normally southwest monsoon advances over most parts of NE by June 5.
The rains generally arrive over Delhi by June 27, spread across the entire country by early July and begin retreating from the northwest around mid-September.
Meanwhile, under the influence of two low pressure areas one over Southwest Bangladesh and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal and another over Gujarat region, very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places likely over Gujarat, coastal and south Interior Karnataka, north Konkan, north Kerala, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha. Heavy to very heavy rainfall will also continue over NE during the next five days with extremely heavy falls over Meghalaya on June 18 and 19.
