IMD predicts heavy rainfall across states as monsoon covers entire India

With the Southwest monsoon covering the entire country six days ahead of schedule, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast ‘heavy to very heavy’ rainfall over isolated places of east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Konkan, Goa, coastal Karnataka and Kerala on Tuesday.

Weathermen also predict heavy rainfall in several places of Jammu and Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh, Gilgil-Baltistan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Odisha, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Gujarat.

Reports quoting IMD officials say that while there was a temporary slowdown in monsoon activity in parts of central and northwest India, the same is expected to pick up from Tuesday.

Besides rainfall, thunderstorm and lightning along with gusty winds reaching the speed of 30-40 kmph are expected at isolated places over Andaman and Nicobar islands, while thunderstorm accompanied by lightning is predicted in isolated places in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The Monsoon had set over Kerala on May 29, three days ahead of the normal date of June 1.

“Southwest monsoon has covered the entire country on Saturday, six days before the normal date of July 8,” the IMD said on Saturday.

Parts of western Rajasthan and north Gujarat, which were yet to receive monsoon rains, received their first showers on Friday.

However, the country has recorded a rainfall deficit of five per cent as on Saturday.

According to the IMD, all states falling in the monsoon core zone, barring Rajasthan, have received deficient rains till now.

The monsoon core zone comprises the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha which are rain-fed agricultural regions.