Most parts of the country including northwest India are likely to experience slightly warmer temperatures during the second half of this month, as the monsoon could begin withdrawing from northwest India by September 22, according to a media report.
If the prediction comes to bear, the monsoon will have its earliest withdrawal in eight years and is likely to result in a brief uptick in temperatures before days and nights start to become colder with the arrival of the autumn season from early October, according to a report by Hindustan Times.
“Temperatures will remain below normal until September 19 but will be slightly above normal after that,” the report quoted M Mohapatra, director general, of India Meteorological Department (IMD) as saying.
As per the weather expert, the withdrawal of monsoon is expected to start from September 22, and it will begin from Rajasthan. "It doesn’t mean monsoon will withdraw from all parts of northwest India at the same time. We can expect rain before that as a low-pressure area is expected to travel across central India to Gujarat and Rajasthan next week,” Mohapatra said.
If this happens, it would be the earliest end of the rainy season in northwest India in 8 years. Last year, Monsoon started withdrawing around September 25, and in 2022, the withdrawal started on September 30, as per IMD.
In its extended range forecast, IMD said there is a lower possibility of rain over most parts of the country except east India during the week of September 26 to October 3.
This year, the first half of September was unusually rainy for several parts of north India. Since June 1, the country has seen an 8 per cent excess in overall rainfall. Regionally, there has been a 7 per cent excess in the northwest, 18 per cent in the central, 20 per cent in the south peninsula, and a 15 per cent deficiency in the east and northeast zones.