Rains to officially reach Mumbai in next 24-48 hrs, predicts IMD; monsoon has now covered nearly half of India

Rains lashed various states on Monday, bringing relief amid sweltering temperatures and drought conditions. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) told Reuters that the monsoon has now covered nearly half the country and is likely to advance into the central and western parts this week.

The IMD has also predicted monsoons is set to reach Mumbai in next 24 to 48 hours. According to reports, the IMD forecast said that a minimum of 2.5 mm rainfall must be recorded over a span of 24 hours for the onset of monsoon to be declared. If the onset of monsoon was not officially declared on Monday, 2019 would be the most delayed to witness the arrival of rains in 45 years – in 1974 monsoon had reached the city on 28 June, The Indian Express quoted the IMD as saying. In 2009, monsoons had hit Mumbai on 24 June.

Monsoon arrived in the eastern and southern parts of Madhya Pradesh, which included Balaghat, Mandla, Chhindwara and Khandwa districts and Jabalpur, Indore and Ujjain divisions. IMD official Gurudutt Mishra told PTI that Ratlam, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Barwani, Ujjain, Agar-Malwa and Indore districts are likely to receive heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours.

Commuters ride on a two-wheeler during rains in Mumbai. PTI

Related Articles

Weather report: East India to remain relatively dry; heatwave to comeback in Haryana, Delhi by the weekend

Weather report: As IMD announces onset of Monsoon over Nicobar, pre-Monsoon rains to strengthen across India

The south-west monsoon will likely cover the entire state of Maharashtra in four to five days, the Met department said, adding that it has arrived in over 90 percent of the state. "The remaining seven to eight percent area in the state comprises Mumbai, northern part of Konkan and extreme northern part of central Maharashtra," the IMD official told ANI. Widespread rain is likely in the Konkan region and neighbouring Goa.

Light rainfall was received in some parts of Uttar Pradesh, including Bareilly (19.8 mm), Jhansi (2.2 mm), Kanpur (6.0 mm), Hardoi (16.2 mm), Hamirpur (14.0 mm) and Shahjahanpur (43.0 mm), the IMD said adding that thunder showers were likely in isolated places.

Kanpur recorded the highest temperature in the state at 40.4 degrees Celsius. 17 deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday owing to rain-related incidents. "Seventeen persons lost their lives, while 19 persons sustained injuries across the state. Three deaths were reported from Hardoi due to lightning, while two deaths were reported due to lightning each in Jalaun and Sitapur. Similarly one person died due to lighting in Badaun. Two persons died due to excessive rainfall each in Balrampur and Amethi, while one person died due to excessive rainfall each in Fatehpur and Gonda," the IMD said in a statement. Two people drowned in Ghazipur, while one person died due to snake bite in Unnao, it added.

Light rain brought down the maximum temperature to 35.4 degrees Celsius in Delhi, with the IMD predicting similar weather over the next three to four days, according to PTI. Monsoon, however, will arrive in the capital on 29 June, reported ANI.

Pre-monsoon showers brought down the mercury in Himachal Pradesh. Chail received 62 mm rain, which was followed by Sundernagar 56 mm, Solan 33 mm, Saranh 26 mm, Shimla 18 mm, Una 10 mm, Kufri 9 mm, Manali and Rajgarh 5 mm each, Dalhousie, Fagu and Baghi 2 mm each, Kangra and Chamba 1 mm each

The Met Department has already issued a fresh yellow weather warning for a thunderstorm in Himachal Pradesh till Tuesday. The Shimla Met Centre forecast thunderstorms accompanied with hailstorm and gusty winds in plains, low and middle hills of the state for 25 June.

In Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Karnal and Narnaul received rains, while in Rajasthan, Dungarpur, Banswara, Sikar, Ajmer, Pratapgarh, Jhunjhunu, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner districts recorded rainfall ranging from 2 to 5 cms in the past 24 hours.

Churu, which had seen the highest temperatures in the state during the last month, remained the hottest on Monday too, at 42.5 degrees Celsius. IMD predicted heavy rainfall in isolated places in east Rajasthan.

As per the forecast for Bihar, Patna and Bhagalpur are expected to witness generally cloudy sky on Tuesday while Gaya and Purnea may witness partly cloudy sky.

The official monsoon starts from 1 June to 30 September, but the overall monsoon deficiency until 22 June remains around 39 percent. The monsoon’s progress remained sluggish, with 84 percent of the meteorological subdivisions having recorded deficient rainfall, according to IMD data. According to the Central Water Commission data, 59 out of the 91 major reservoirs in the country have storage below normal.

As per an IMD press release, widespread rainfall with heavy to very heavy falls at isolated places is very likely to occur over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh, The Indian Express reported. The IMD has forecast rains in Chennai and northern districts of Tamil Nadu on Monday and Tuesday.