New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department declared on Tuesday that the monsoon has covered the entire country six days ahead of its schedule.
The IMD said in a statement: “The southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab today. Thus, it covered the entire country on 2nd July 2024, against the normal date of July 8.”
In a typical year, rains usually lash the southwestern coastal state of Kerala around June 1 and move northwards to cover the entire country by July 8.
It progressed normally up to Maharashtra but lost momentum, extending the wait for rains in West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, and worsening the impact of a scorching heat wave in northwest India.
From June 11 to June 27, the country recorded 16 days of below-normal rainfall activity which led to an overall below-normal precipitation in June, 147.2 mm of rainfall against a normal of 165.3 mm for the month, the seventh lowest since 2001.
June rainfall accounts for 15 per cent of the total precipitation of 87 cm recorded during the four-month monsoon season in the country.
India could experience above-normal rainfall in July, with heavy rains potentially leading to floods in the western Himalayan states and river basins in the central parts of the country.
