South-West monsoon is likely to begin withdrawal from October 6, says IMD

The India Meteorological Department on Thursday said that the withdrawal of the south-west monsoon from some parts of north-west India is likely to begin from October 6.

The weather department said in a tweet that conditions are likely to be favourable for the withdrawal from next week.

The normal date for the withdrawal of monsoon from the country is September 17, the Hindustan Times reported. Last year, the withdrawal of the monsoon from north-west India began on September 28.

Till September 30, the country has received 99% of its average monsoon rainfall, The Hindu reported. India recorded an average of 87 centimetres of rainfall across all the 36 sub-divisions, just short of the normal figure of 88 centimetres.

Rainfall received from June 1 to September 30 is counted as being part of the south-west monsoon.

The country received as much as 223 millimetres of rain in September, which was 34% higher than the average of 166.6 millimetres for the month, The Times of India reported. The rainfall in September significantly bridged the deficit that had developed at the end of August.

Till August 31, the rainfall recorded across the country was 9% below normal, and the figure fell to about 1% at the end of September.

At the beginning of September, the India Meteorological Department had predicted that the rainfall during the month will be more than 110% of the Long Period Average.

The Long Period Average refers to the average rainfall recorded over the country from 1961 to 2010. This value is 88 centimetres. According to the weather department, rainfall between 96% and 104% of the Long Period Average falls in the “normal range”.

Meanwhile, the weather agency has predicted heavy to heavy rainfall in the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat on Friday. It has also predicted widespread rainfall in Bihar, northern parts of West Bengal and Sikkim till October 3.