Monsoon may hit north-west India in 3-4 days, isolated to widespread rain likely this week

Tribune News Service

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, June 25

Amidst above-normal temperatures prevailing in the region, the weather department has said that conditions are likely to become favourable for advance of the southwest monsoon into some parts of north-west India later this week.

Conditions are likely to become favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and the northern parts of Punjab and Haryana in the next three to four days, according to a bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on June 25.

The IMD has predicted isolated rain in Punjab on June 26 and 27, scattered rain on June 28 and 29 and fairly widespread rain on June 30 and July 1. For Haryana, the forecast is for isolated rain on June 26, scattered rain on June 27, fairly widespread rain on June 28 and 29 and a wet spell on June 30 and July 1.

At present, the northern limit of the monsoon now passes through Mundra, Mehsana, Udaipur, Shivpuri, Siddhi, Chaibasa, Haldia, Pakur, Sahibganj and Raxaul, having covered peninsular India, the north-east and eastern parts of Bihar and Jharkhand.

The arrival of the monsoon comes in the backdrop of the region experiencing a severe deficit of rain in June so far, with the shortfall being 77 per cent in Punjab, 73 per cent in Haryana and 52 per cent in Himachal Pradesh.

From June 1 till the morning of June 25, Punjab received 8.8 mm rain against the long period average of 38.6 mm for this duration, according to the IMD data. Haryana received 10.7 mm against the normal of 39.6 mm, while Himachal received 35.1 mm against the normal of 75.6 mm.

Rainfall in these states was severely deficient in May this year also, with the shortfall being 86 per cent in Punjab, 79 per cent in Haryana and 72 per cent in Himachal. The water level in crucial dams is also below normal by 28 per cent in Punjab and by 2 per cent in Himachal.

Over the past 24 hours, some parts of Punjab as well as Haryana experienced light rain along with thunderstorms, with heat wave and warm night conditions also being reported from isolated places in both states.

Monday’s highest maximum temperature recorded in Punjab was 44.5 degrees Celsius at Samrala, while Tuesday’s lowest minimum temperature was 25.8 degrees Celsius at Nangal. The average maximum temperature across the state was above normal by 3.8 degrees, while the average minimum temperature was above normal by 2.8 degrees.

In Haryana, Monday’s highest maximum temperature was 44 degrees Celsius at Sirsa, while the lowest minimum temperature was 24 degrees at Bawal. The average maximum and minimum temperatures in the state were above normal by 2 degrees and 2.3 degrees, respectively.

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