The Southwest monsoon Sunday covered the entire country, nine days ahead of its normal schedule of July 8. The day also marked an on-time onset of the monsoon over New Delhi.
Including 2025, it is only the tenth occasion when the monsoon covered the entire country in June, which is also the onset month (see table), said the data by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The monsoon normally covers the entire country in the first week of July. Since 1960, the earliest that the monsoon covered all-India was 1961 (June 21) and the latest was in 2002 (August 15).
This year, the monsoon arrived over the Andaman Sea and the neighbouring areas on May 13 and its progress into Kerala was marked on May 24 — both ahead of normal by nearly a week. Thereafter, its progress largely remained ahead of its normal schedule reaching Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, many parts of east and northeast India well in advance. Except for the period May 29 – June 15 , when it had remained stalled, the monsoon’s advance remained swift and was favoured by multiple favourbale weather systems both at regional and global-scales.
” On Sunday, the southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,” the IMD said on Sunday.
On the day, the existing low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal, West Bengal and Bangladesh persisted. Over the next two days, the Met office said that the system’s west-northwestward movement across north Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal and Jharkhand will cause widespread heavy rainfall (64.4 – 115.5mm in 24 hours) over these regions through the week.
The country’s west coast, particularly Konkan, Goa and ghat areas of Maharashtra is bracing for heavy to very very heavy rainfall ( 64 – 204mm in 24 hours) over the next one week. Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are under red alert for the likely occurrence of extremely heavy rainfall (over 204mm in 24 hours) on Monday. Neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh will receive very heavy rainfall (115 – 205mm in 24 hours) till July 2, the IMD said in its forecast issued on Sunday. Rajasthan is expected to receive very heavy rain towards the end of the week. Over the southern peninsular India, Kerala, Mahe and coastal Karnataka will receive heavy rainfall till July 4.
In June, the all-India rainfall was 162.6mm, which was 9 per cent above normal (till June 28).
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The Southwest monsoon over entire India. (Source: IMD)