Monsoon expected in June end, muggy days to stay longer

NEW DELHI: The Monsoon will hit the national Capital anytime between June 29 and July 1 with pre-monsoon activities expected to begin this coming week, bringing a much-needed respite for Delhi, which is currently reeling under heat wave-like conditions.

According to both India Meteorological Department (IMD) as well as private weather forecasting agency Skymet, Delhi will see the on-time arrival of monsoon while the rainfall in long period average (LPA) is not yet clear.

"The onset of north-west monsoon is expected to be between June 29 and July 1 for Delhi. The pre-monsoon showers can be expected around June 27," M Mohaptra, a senior scientist at IMD, said.

While Skymet prediction also expects monsoon to arrive anytime after June 29, it sees the pre-monsoon showers to hit the national Capital from Monday.

The monsoon's course had been subdued for over a week. However, from Sunday, it has revived and started moving towards the north, weather analysts said.

"Gradually, these pre-Monsoon activities will start increasing. Thus, on and off rains will continue for some time. The normal date of arrival of monsoon over Delhi is around June 29 and we expect timely onset of monsoon over Delhi with an error margin of plus or minus two days," said an official.

He added that rains are expected to increase further, and we expect good rains around June 30 and 31st. In fact, the month of July is also expected to begin on a rainy note. By the end of the month, good rains will commence over Delhi-NCR leading to a significant drop in temperatures too.

Officials said that the maximums are expected to drop down to around 35 and 36 degrees Celsius which at present are settling between 43 and 45 degrees. Thus, significant relief is expected in coming days as Southwest Monsoon will also make an onset over Delhi and NCR. It was a partly cloudy morning in the national capital on Sunday and is likely to remain so throughout the day, the weather office said.

Minimum temperature was recorded at 32 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, an official said.