After bringing bountiful showers to most parts of the country, south-west monsoon is knocking on the doors of Uttar Pradesh and ready to rain over Delhi at least a week ahead of schedule.
The latest figures from the weather office released this evening show most parts of the country getting excess rains since the onset of monsoon over Kerala on June 1.
India Meteorological Department Director General L S Rathore said monsoon was expected to bring its showers to Delhi at least a week ahead of the normal onset date of June 29. The earliest onset over Delhi was on 2008 when monsoon rains reached the capital on June 15.
Monsoon has already covered 50 per cent of the country's landmass bringing 23 per cent excess rains to states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and parts of Gujarat.
"The northern limit of monsoon continues to pass through Okha, Ahmedabad, Rajgarh, Satna, Ranchi, Berhampore, Jalpaiguri and Gangtok," a weather official said.
Though June rainfall accounts for only about 18 per cent of the total rains during the four-month monsoon season, they are important as they set the tone for the sowing of the kharif crops.
The IMD, in its annual long term forecast issued in April, had forecast a normal monsoon this year with 98 per cent rainfall of the long period average.
Meanwhile, pre-monsoon light to moderate showers are expected to commence over Delhi and other parts of north-west India during the next three days.
