NEW DELHI: A weak southwest monsoon reached Delhi on Sunday, two days earlier than its normal schedule. It has partially touched almost all northern states and relieved millions of people reeling under intense heat. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said monsoon would cover all states in the next two days.
After six decades, monsoon rains reached Delhi and Mumbai on the same day with the India Meteorological Department announcing the monsoon’s rapid advancement on Sunday.
According to IMD, in the last 62 years, monsoon has hit Delhi and Mumbai almost simultaneously. However, it is two days early in Delhi whereas it is delayed by 13 days in Mumbai. According to IMD, the normal dates of monsoon onset (1961-2019) over Mumbai & Delhi are June 11 and June 27, respectively.
This year monsoon is said to be tardy and weak. It has been delayed by over 10 days and is deficient by 28%.
The major deficit lies in the southern region followed by the central and eastern regions. The monsoon wind was stuck for many days in southern India and east India due to the impact of tropical cyclone Biporjoy in the Arabian Sea. The sudden movement of the monsoon wind towards the north surprised many experts.
“The formation of low pressure in the Bay of Bengal, and the cyclonic circulation over Uttar Pradesh has strengthened monsoon winds and led to its rapid progress,” said Vineet Kumar, a South Korea-based research scientist who tracks the Indian weather system.
Amid the continued rainfall, the weather department has declared an orange alert for the remainder of the day, with more rain in store. A similar orange alert is in place for Monday too, with the IMD forecasting light to moderate showers at most places, officials said.
The IMD classifies it as ‘very light’ rainfall when it is between ‘trace’ and 2.4mm in a 24-hour period. ‘Light’ rainfall between 2.5mm and 15.5mm; ‘moderate’ between 15.6mm and 64.4mm and ‘heavy’ rainfall when over 64.4mm is recorded in a single day. Forecasts show light showers on Tuesday and Wednesday too, some rain activity will continue in Delhi till Friday, making it a wet end to the month.
Meanwhile, a 34-year-old woman died of electrocution after accidentally coming in contact with a live wire at the New Delhi railway station complex on Sunday morning amid rainfall, which also led to waterlogging there.