Monsoon covers entire India 6 days ahead of schedule

New Delhi:  The southwest monsoon has covered the entire country six days ahead of the normal date, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday. "The southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab today. Thus, it covered the entire country on Tuesday, against the normal date of July 8 (six days before the normal date of covering the entire India)," the IMD said in a statement. The monsoon arrived in Kerala and the northeastern region on May 30, two and six days earlier than usual.

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. The country recorded 16 days of below-normal rainfall activity — from June 11 to June 27 — 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% of the total precipitation of 87 cm recorded during the four-month monsoon season in the country.

The IMD on Monday said 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.