The monsoon has all but made good the fortnight-long mid-June lag over Central India and entered more parts of Himachal Pradesh as well as Rajasthan, the western-most state and its final destination.

It has covered Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, the entire National Capital Region, and some parts of Haryana on its way to the border state of Rajasthan.

PUNJAB OFF LIMIT

As on Monday, its northern limit had reached an alignment which it would normally reach by July 1, slightly delayed over interiors of Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

Punjab is the lone state where the monsoon has not managed to make a presence as on date, the monsoon coverage graphic provided by the India Met Department (IMD) on Monday shows.

A small arc linking Central and North-West Rajasthan, entire Punjab, and parts of Hayana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir is all what is left for the rains to cover by July 15, the timeline that normally represents coverage of the entire landscape in the onset phase.

Meanwhile, a fresh wave of heavy to very heavy rainfall has been unleashed over the East and North-East India with the Bay of Bengal becoming active yet again.

MORE RAIN FORECAST

This phase of the monsoon will also bring heavy rain to parts of the West Coast, including Coastal and South Interior Karnataka, Bihar, East Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and East Madhya Pradesh.

The US Climate Prediction Centre's weather tracker estimated that North India would continue to be under the grip of heavy rain for close to another fortnight.

It sees helpful circulations/ occasional low-pressure area from the Bay heading to East India and North-West India, and even touching off activity over West India, especially Gujarat.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts seemed to agree, pointing to the possibility of extended churn in the Bay of Bengal for the next week or so.

comment COMMENT NOW