The southwest monsoon withdrew from the entire country on Thursday, October 16, a day later than its usual retreat date of October 15, the India Meteorological Department said.
The northeast monsoon has set in over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, south interior Karnataka and Kerala-Mahe.
During the four-month southwest monsoon period that ended on September 30, the country recorded 937.2 mm of rainfall, a surplus of 8% as compared to the normal of 868.6 mm, PTI reported.
However, the distribution was uneven across regions. The eastern and northeastern parts of the country recorded 1,089.9 mm of rainfall, which was 20% below normal.
“Rainfall over east and northeast India this monsoon season was the second lowest since 1901,” IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, according to PTI. “The lowest rainfall [1,065.7 mm] in the monsoon season in the region was recorded in 2013.”
Northwestern India recorded 747.9 mm of rain, which was 27.3% above the normal of 587.6 mm.
This year, the monsoon reached Kerala on May 24, its earliest onset over the Indian mainland since 2009, when it arrived on May 23.
It covered the entire country nine days before the usual date of July 8. This was the earliest the monsoon has covered the entire country since 2020 when it did so by June 26.
Usually, the southwest monsoon arrives over Kerala around June 1, covers the entire country by July 8, starts withdrawing from northwest India around September 17 and completes its retreat by October 15.
This year, heavy rains brought widespread flooding in Punjab, where swollen rivers and breached canals inundated farmland and displaced thousands. In the Himalayan states, repeated cloudbursts and flash floods triggered landslides, washed away bridges and roads, and caused extensive damage in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, central India received 1,125.3 mm of rainfall or 15.1% above normal while the southern peninsula saw a 9.9% surplus over its average of 716.2 mm.
The IMD attributed the surplus rain to active monsoon conditions supported by frequent western disturbances that enhanced rainfall over the region.
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