IMD revises data, says monsoon will arrive and withdraw late in many states

In a move that could have some impact on agriculture, water and power management in parts of the country, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday revised the monsoon onset and withdrawal dates over parts of North-West, Central and West India delaying it by 3-7 days in some case and advancing it by a few days in some other cases.

However, the annual rains will hit the Kerala coast around June 1 and leave the country around October 15.

The withdrawal dates over much of Central and North-West India, where a substantial part of the farming activities are dependent on rains are now expected to be 7-14 days later than usual.

“I think farmers in India have by now got used to delayed onset of monsoon and are wise enough not to start sowing unless proper soil moisture is available because delay or early arrival of monsoon in parts and delayed withdrawal has been happening for some time now,” said Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist Care Ratings.

The met department has revised its monsoon onset and withdrawal dates over parts of India based on its extensive analysis of recent data. For changing the onset dates it studied data from 1961-2019 and for revising the withdrawal dates it studied data from 1971-2019.

Till now, the monsoon’s onset and withdrawal dates were fixed using data from 140 monitoring stations during the period 1901-1940.

As a result of which the southwest monsoon is now expected to hit Mumbai on June 11 instead of June 10, a delay of one day, but leave the city around October 8 instead of September 29, a delay of almost 9 days.

In Bhopal, the rains are henceforth expected to hit the city around June 22 as against the current onset date of June 15 but start withdrawing from 30 September instead of the current withdrawal date of September 20, a delay of 10 days.

In Lucknow, the monsoon is now expected to come around June 23 instead of June 22, but leave around October 3 instead of September 30.

 

IThe met department has revised its monsoon onset and withdrawal dates over parts of India based on its extensive analysis of recent data.

For changing the onset dates it studied data from 1961-2019 and for revising the withdrawal dates it studied data from 1971-2019.

Till now, the monsoon’s onset and withdrawal dates were fixed using data from 140 monitoring stations during the period 1901-1940.

As a result, the southwest monsoon is now expected to hit Mumbai on June 11 instead of June 10, a delay of one day, and leave the city around October 8 instead of September 29, a delay of almost 9 days.

In Bhopal, the rains are expected to hit the city around June 22 as against the current onset date of June 15 and start withdrawing from September 30 instead of the current withdrawal date of September 20, a delay of 10 days.

In Lucknow, the monsoon is now expected to come around June 23 instead of June 22, and leave around October 3 instead of September 30.

In Delhi, the monsoon will arrive around June 27 instead of 23, but leave around September 25 instead of September 22.

Overall, the IMD said that in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and parts of Uttar Pradesh, monsoon will be delayed by 3-7 days compared to the existing normal dates.

However, over extreme northwest India, the monsoon will arrive a little earlier, on July 8, as compared to the existing date of July 15.