Southwest Monsoon to Reach Delhi by June 25

New Delhi:The southwest monsoon, which regained momentum this week, is expected to cover most parts of northwest India, including Delhi, by June 25, well ahead of the usual dates. While Delhi on Friday witnessed a slight dip in temperatures, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for the national capital, forecasting hot and humid conditions along with a high likelihood of thunderstorm activity, lightning and gusty winds later in the evening.

The maximum temperature at Safdarjung, the city's official observatory, fell to 41.2 degrees Celsius, still 1.3 degrees Celsius above normal, but notably lower than Thursday's 43.9 degrees Celsius. Also, no heatwave conditions are expected from June 14 onwards.

However, Delhi's minimum temperatures continued to rise and recorded a low of 31.0 degrees Celsius on Friday, compared to 30.7 degrees Celsius on Thursday and 27.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.

Despite the drop in peak temperature, discomfort levels remained high, with the humidity ranging between 51 per cent and 69 per cent and the day's heat index (real feel) peaking at 51.5 degrees Celsius.

The updated forecast for Delhi predicts partly cloudy skies, with very light to light rainfall, thunderstorm activity and gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph, possibly touching 60 kmph during thunderstorm spells tonight.

These conditions are likely to persist over the weekend, with rainfall expected to increase between June 16 and 18.

Regarding the onset of the monsoon, the Met department said the primary rain-bearing system reached Kerala on May 24, marking its earliest onset over the Indian mainland since 2009, when it arrived on May 23.

According to the IMD, aided by strong low-pressure systems over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, the monsoon advanced quickly over the next few days, covering parts up to central Maharashtra, including Mumbai, and the entire northeast by May 29. However, it stalled from May 28-29 until June 10-11 before becoming active again. The lack of rainfall since early June led to a sharp rise in temperatures, triggering heatwave conditions across large parts of northwest and central India since June 8-9.

According to the IMD's extended range forecast, the monsoon is now likely to cover the remaining parts of central and eastern India and some areas of northwest India by June 18.

It is expected to advance over most of northwest India between June 19 and June 25.

An IMD official said the rain-bearing system is likely to reach Delhi by June 22-23, ahead of the normal onset date of June 27. Meteorologists, though, added that the date of monsoon onset does not directly correlate with the total seasonal rainfall. An early or delayed arrival in Kerala or Mumbai does not necessarily indicate similar progress in other parts of the country.

Above-normal rainfall is expected in most parts of the country, except Ladakh, adjoining areas of Himachal Pradesh, the northeast, and some parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. Some isolated areas in Punjab, Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu may record below- normal rainfall.n