Southwest monsoon withdraws from entire India

The southwest monsoon has completely withdrawn from the country and the northeast monsoon has begun over southeast peninsular India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.

This year, the southwest monsoon reached Kerala on May 30 and covered the entire country by July 2. It began its retreat from northwest India on September 23.

Typically, the southwest monsoon arrives in Kerala by June 1 and covers the country by July 8, with its withdrawal from northwest India starting around September 17 and completing by October 15.

"Today, the southwest monsoon has withdrawn from the entire country. Simultaneously, northeast monsoon rainfall activity has commenced over southeast peninsular India," the IMD said in a statement.

The country recorded 934.8 mm of rainfall compared to the normal of 868.6 mm -- the highest since 2020 -- in the monsoon season this year.

Intense low-pressure systems, especially in August and September, resulted in 8 per cent more rainfall than usual in India during the 2024 monsoon season, according to the weather department.

The rainfall was 2 per cent higher than normal in June and July, while August and September saw 12 per cent above normal rains.

The IMD said India did not experience any "break monsoon" conditions this year because of the large number of low-pressure systems.

Regionally, central India received 19.5 per cent more rain than usual, peninsular India saw 14 per cent more rain and northwest India recorded 7 per cent above-normal rain. However, eastern and northeastern India got 14 per cent less rain than expected, the IMD said.

The rainfall in June was 11 per cent below normal, but July saw 9 per cent more rain, August had 15.3 per cent extra and September recorded 11.6 per cent more-than-normal rainfall.

Only three of India's 36 meteorological subdivisions had less rainfall than normal this season. Twenty-one subdivisions saw normal rainfall, 10 had excess and two reported large excess.

Rajasthan, Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were among the states with more rainfall than usual, according to the IMD.

In 2023, India recorded 820 mm of rainfall, which was 94.4 per cent of the long-period average (LPA). In 2022, the country received 925 mm (106 per cent of the LPA) rain, 870 mm rain in 2021 and 958 mm rain in 2020.

The IMD had predicted above-normal rainfall (106 per cent of the LPA) for the 2024 monsoon season. It had also accurately forecast below-normal rainfall for northeast India, normal rainfall for northwest India and above-normal rainfall for the central and southern regions.