Withdrawal of southwest monsoon to be delayed

The withdrawal of southwest monsoon will be delayed by almost three weeks with several parts of the country expected to receive another bout of medium-to-high intensity rainfall in the next few days.

The weatherman has predicted that large tracts of central India and the foothills would receive a downpour in the next three days after which Andhra Pradesh and adjoining areas could witness rain early next week.

Moderate rain can also be seen in West Bengal before Durga puja festivities on September 27. “The withdrawal will start after these two systems pass. It is delayed by nearly 20 days. However, even with this late surge, the 2017 monsoon season may end up with 3-4% deficiency,” M Rajeevan,  secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences told DH on Thursday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in June had predicted the southwest monsoon to bring 98% of average rainfall between June and September. On Thursday, the weather department came out with a heavy rainfall warning for west Madhya Pradesh; west Uttar Pradesh; Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi; east Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

All of these meteorological sub-divisions are likely to receive heavy (64.5-115.5 mm) to very heavy (115.6-204.4 mm) rainfall anytime in the next three days. In the Bay of Bengal, another low-pressure system is being formed. It is likely to result in a downpour in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring areas around September 25. The western coast had already witnessed heavy rainfall earlier this week. As on September 20, the shortfall for the country as a whole is 5%.