India to get 'below normal' rainfall in June as monsoon stalls: IMD

New Delhi: India has received 20 per cent below normal rainfall since the start of the monsoon period on June 1, and overall precipitation for the entire month will also be subpar, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.

After reaching the Indian mainland two days earlier than usual and swiftly covering many other states, the rain-bearing system made no significant progress between June 12 and 18, extending the wait for north India, which is reeling from a sweltering heat wave. However, conditions are now favorable for further advancement of the monsoon into parts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, northwest Bay of Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand over the next three to four days, the weather department said.

India received 64.5 mm of rainfall between June 1 and 18 which is 20 per cent less than the long period average (LPA) of 80.6 mm, it said. Since June 1, northwest India has recorded 10.2 mm of rainfall (70 per cent less than normal), central India 50.5 mm (31 per cent less than normal), the south peninsula 106.6 mm (16 per cent more than normal), and east and northeast India 146.7 mm (15 per cent less than normal).

The southwest monsoon advanced into parts of the Nicobar Islands on May 19. It subsequently covered most parts of the south and some parts of the central Bay of Bengal by May 26 along with Cyclone Remal. It simultaneously reached Kerala and the northeastern states on May 30, two and six days earlier than normal, respectively. By June 12, it had gradually covered the entire states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; most parts of southern Maharashtra and some parts of southern Chhattisgarh and southern Odisha; and most parts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and all northeastern states.

"Thereafter, the monsoon has not progressed, and its northern limit on June 18 passes through Navsari, Jalgaon, Amravati, Chandrapur, Bijapur, Sukma, Malkangiri, and Vizianagaram," the IMD said. The IMD reported that 11 meteorological sub-divisions in the country have received normal to large excess rainfall between June 1 and 18 while 25 have experienced deficient to large deficient rainfall.

The IMD said in a May-end presser that the country could see above-normal rainfall in the four-month monsoon season (June to September) with cumulative rainfall estimated at 106 per cent of the LPA of 87 cm. Below-normal monsoon rainfall is expected in northeast India, normal in the northwest and above-normal in central and south peninsular regions of the country.