Monsoon misses MP's usual date, entry now likely after June 18

Times News NetworkIndore: Madhya Pradesh is likely to witness a delayed arrival of the southwest monsoon this year, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) ruling out its entry into the state over the next three to four days.

The monsoon normally reaches Madhya Pradesh between June 15 and 18.IMD Bhopal meteorologist Arun Sharma said the current pace of the monsoon remained sluggish. “At present, the monsoon is moving slowly and its entry into Madhya Pradesh is not expected over the next three to four days. It has already crossed its normal arrival period in the state. Looking at the current situation, there are high chances of the monsoon entering through the southeastern districts such as Balaghat, Seoni, Chhindwara and Dindori, as the Bay of Bengal branch is stronger than the Arabian Sea branch, which is relatively weak at the moment,“ he said.On Monday, the southwest monsoon advanced into the remaining parts of Andhra Pradesh and further into Telangana, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar. The northern limit of monsoon passed through Harnai, Solapur, Hyderabad, Bhadrachalam, Koraput, Phulbani, Ranchi, Jamui and Muzaffarpur before extending into Nepal.Sharma said a sea-level monsoon trough stretching from Punjab through Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to Bihar was influencing weather conditions.

In addition, an upper air cyclonic circulation persisted over southeast Pakistan and adjoining Rajasthan. “Monsoon activity is expected to intensify over Madhya Pradesh, only after a fresh western disturbance affects northwest India around June 18,” he added.A trough system remained active over the state, bringing pre-monsoon weather. The IMD forecast thunderstorms and rain over the next four days in districts including Indore, Ujjain, Ratlam, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Barwani, Khargone, Dewas, Harda, Khandwa and Burhanpur, even as spells of intense heat continued.In Indore, more than an inch of rain early on Sunday briefly brought down temperature. However, clearer skies later pushed the minimum temperature up by 6.3 degrees to 25.8 degrees Celsius on Monday. The maximum temperature stood at 37.1 degrees Celsius. The city may witness light showers on Tuesday, with rain activity expected to intensify and continue over the following days.