Southwest Monsoon runs into Cyclone Mora: Here's when rains will begin in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and more

Although the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) monsoon forecast for 2017 had some good news in store for a parched nation battling drought and water scarcity, when it said India would receive 98 percent of the annual average rainfall, there is a disconcerting caveat in store: The monsoon's arrival will be delayed by around four days, due to the Cyclone Mora.

Representational image. Reuters

The Southwest Monsoon had made landfall on the Kerala coast on 30 May, four days ahead of schedule, and was said to be making rapid progress across the Indian peninsula subsequently. It was supposed to reach Mumbai on 8 June.

However, as mentioned by a report in The Times of India, the rain clouds' advance came to a halt after 2 June, on account of Mora which cooled down sea surface temperatures and reduced convection and cloud cover.

Met department officials said the monsoon would begin progressing in three days' time, after which the advance is expected to be quicker. A senior India Meteorological Department (IMD) official was quoted in the TOI report as saying that the monsoon has covered some more northeastern states on Friday after which it halted.

"Originally, Mora seemed to help the progress of monsoon. But the monsoon current will now take some time to get organised and pick up pace again, which may take three to four days. Convection over Bay of Bengal is expected to increase as sea surface temperatures normalises," the official added.

The monsoon would now make landfall in Goa on Thursday, following which it would reach the financial capital Mumbai around 14 June. Around the same time, it would have also covered large parts of the Indian heartland, including states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, all of which are likely to receive rain by 14 June, said a report on Zee News. It would reach national capital Delhi towards the end of the month, the report added.