North India Braces for Heavy Weekend Rainfall as Monsoon Gains Strength, IMD Issues Alert

New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said that rainfall activity is expected to intensify over northwest India, with heavy to very heavy rainfall anticipated from June 28 to 30. “The northern limit of monsoon continues to pass through Mundra, Mehsana, Udaipur, Shivpuri, Siddhi, Lalitpur, Chaibasa, Haldia, Pakur, Sahibganj and Raxaul,” IMD said in its bulletin.

It added, “Conditions are likely to become favourable for further advance of Monsoon into remaining parts of North Arabian Sea, Gujarat State, Madhya Pradesh; some more parts of Rajasthan; remaining parts of Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar; most parts of East Uttar Pradesh; some more parts of West Uttar Pradesh; some parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad, northern parts of Punjab and northern parts of Haryana during next 3-4 days.” 

The monsoon season is currently delayed by approximately a week compared to its usual schedule. After June 11, it experienced a slowdown lasting about nine days. 

The country is experiencing a 19% overall rainfall deficiency. Specifically, northwest India has a 57% deficiency, central India faces a 23% deficiency, and east and northeast India have a 16% deficiency. In contrast, peninsular India has seen a 9% excess in rainfall. “After its revival, monsoon will progress further & cover the whole country by July 5. Active monsoon phase expected next 2-3 weeks with heavy rains along the west coast and north India. High probability of extreme rains & flooding in north India,” M Rajeevan, former secretary of the Ministry of earth sciences wrote on X (formerly Twitter.   

Southwest Monsoon Reaches Rajasthan

The Southwest Monsoon reached Rajasthan. The weather office said that the monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of the North Arabian Sea, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and parts of southeast Rajasthan. The Northern Limit of Monsoon passes through Mundra, Mahesana, Udaipur, Shivpuri, Siddhi, Chaibasa, Haldia, Pakur, Sahibganj and Raxaul. The centre said conditions are favourable for the Southwest Monsoon to advance into more parts of Rajasthan over the next three to four days.

Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places of Kota and Udaipur divisions in the next 24 hours, the Met Centre said. Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and light to moderate rainfall are expected at few places in east Rajasthan on June 25-26, it added. The department said that light to moderate rainfall is likely at isolated places over the next seven days in west Rajasthan.