Monsoon makes marginal progress; relief from heatwave likely over next 4-5 days: IMD

After a break of nearly nine days since June 11, monsoon has progressed marginally into some more parts of Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Northwest Bay of Bengal, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and some parts of Bihar on Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Northwest and eastern India, which has been reeling under severe heat stress, may also experience some relief as heatwave conditions are likely to reduce over most parts of the country over the next 4-5 days, the IMD said.

By June 20, monsoon should have normally covered most parts of central India – Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, parts of Gujarat and other places. But as of Thursday, the northern limit of monsoon is passing through Amravati, Gondia, Durg, Rampur (Kalahandi), Malda, Bhagalpur and Raxaul.

Conditions are favourable for further advancement of the annual Southwest Monsoon into some more parts of northern Arabian Sea, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, northwest Bay of Bengal, some parts of the Gangetic West Bengal, remaining parts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal, some parts of Jharkhand, some more parts of Bihar and some parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh in the next 3-4 days.

A fresh spell of heavy to very heavy rainfall is also likely over Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra over the next five days, according to IMD. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya in the next two days and isolated heavy rainfall thereafter.

“No heatwave conditions likely over most parts of the country in the next 4-5 days,” the IMD said.

Heatwave to severe heatwave conditions impacted northwest and parts of east India for nearly all of June until now, with several places reporting both severe heatwaves and warm nights.

Heatwave to severe heatwave conditions prevailed in some parts of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and isolated pockets of Uttarakhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Heatwave conditions enveloped most parts of Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh, some parts of Punjab and in isolated pockets of Jammu, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Maximum temperatures were in the range of 43-45°C in many parts of Punjab and Delhi, some parts of Haryana, Chandigarh, north Rajasthan and isolated pockets of Uttar Pradesh.

The maximum and minimum temperatures were above normal by 4-7°C on an average in many parts of northwest and east India, and northern Madhya Pradesh.