The monsoon deficit in the country narrowed to 6 per cent from 25 per cent two weeks ago. The surge in showers during the first three days of the month resulted in lowering of this deficiency. last Saturday and Sunday happened to be the two wettest days of the year so far.
July began on a wet note with the country having received 33.2mm rainfall during the first three days of the month. This according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is 29 percent above normal. While the rainfall on Saturday was 48 percent higher than normal, Sunday received 66 percent above average rains.
This was largely due to the heavy rainfall in northwest and central India. According to weather experts, the deficit in Central India, has fallen to 7 percent, with the other subdivisions barring Gujarat, Saurashtra/ Kutch and east MP, receiving normal rains. Northwest India is now at an 11 percent rain surplus for the season.
The monsoon, according to IMD, is progressing rapidly and covered almost the entire northern India. It is expected to envelop the whole country, during the coming 48 hours.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand, however, still continues to be vulnerable, after the cloudburst, with the IMD predicting isolated heavy rains during the coming 24 hours. From red alert, IMD has however brought it down to orange —indicating that the affected persons are still susceptible to the situation and should be prepared for exigencies in case of any.
The northern states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab are also under the grip of rains. South West monsoon is also getting into Gujarat and east Rajasthan. IMD predicted that Delhi and the NCR region may also receive erratic rains, during the next 24 hours. While cloudy skies will prevail , there may also be short, irregular showers.
Further, a system is also developing over the Bay of Bengal and rain is expected to pick up in Eastern parts of the country including Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining areas, Kolkata, Odisha , parts of Central India.