Rainfall deficit for the country as a whole shrunk to eight per cent as on June-end (June 30, Thursday) with the monsoon covering entire Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh; entire Delhi (late by a day); some parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Its northern limit passed through Deesa, Ratlam, Jaipur, Rohtak, Pathankot and Jammu on Thursday reflecting the inroads made into North-West India through the day.
Leaves big deficits
In the meteorological subdivisons, the rain deficit is 53 per cent over Saurashtra nad Kutch; 49 per cent over the plains of West Bengal; 40 per cent over Madhya Maharashtra; and 32 per cent over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) update said.
As for the four geographical regions, the overall deficit is 30 per cent over Central India; 14 per cent over the South Peninsula; and 12 per cent over North-West India. East and North-East India further consolidated a rainfall surplus to 22 per cent, the only geographical region to do so.
The IMD said conditions are favourable for further advance of monsoon into some more parts of Rajasthan, entire Punjab and Haryana on Friday. An East-West trough runs from Punjab to the North-East Bay of Bengal hosting moist winds from both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Satellite pictures on Thursday showed heavy clouding over North and Central India as well as along the West Coast.
Heavy clouds converge
The heaviest of them hovered over Ludhiana, Patiala, Panipat, Hisar, New Delhi, Churu, Loharu, Ajmer, Kota, Guna, Mandsaur, Jhalrapatan, Agar, Indore, Barwani, Khandwa, Washim, Nanded-Waghela, Nagpur, Chhindwara, Nainpur, Shahdol, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Kamakhyanagar, Bhubaneshwar, Kharagpur, Kolkata, Bhawanipatna, Brahmpaur, Rayagada, Jagdalpur, Bijapur, Ramagundam, Warangal, and Hyderabad across North, North-West, Central and East India by Thursday evening.
Fairly widespread to widespread to light moderate rainfall with isolated thunderstorms and lightning is likely over Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh on Thursday and Friday. It will be scattered to fairly widespread activity thereafter. Isolated to scattered rainfall is likely over Jammu & Kashmir and west Rajasthan during next five days.
Trickier along the hills
Isolated heavy rainfall was forecast for Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday; for Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and west Rajasthan on both Thursday and Friday; and for Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi until Saturday; east Rajasthan until Sunday; and over Uttarakhand during next five days. Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall was forecast over Himachal Pradesh and west Uttar Pradesh on Thursday; and over Uttarakhand and Rajasthan on both Thursday and Friday. Isolated heavy rainfall was predicted for Vidarbha on Thursday; over Madhya Pradesh until Saturday; and over Chhattisgarh during the next five days. It would be isolated heavy to very heavy over west Madhya Pradesh until Thursday. Isolated heavy rainfall is likely over Jharkhand on both Thursday and Friday; over Bihar until Saturday; plains of West Bengal on Thursday; and over Odisha during next five days. Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely over Odisha on Monday.
West Coast to stay wet
The offshore trough has switched back alignment to from south Gujarat-north Karnataka inviting strong westerly/south-westerly monsoon winds NS promising isolated heavy rainfall over east Gujarat until Sunday; over Madhya Maharashtra and coastal Andhra Pradesh on Thursday; Tamil Nadu and Puducherry until Saturday; and over Konkan, Goa, coastal Karnataka, Kerala and south interior Karnataka for five days. Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is forecast over Konkan and Goa during Sunday.