Monsoon withdrawal to be begin next week

September deluge ensures close to normal rainfall across country

The monsoon is likely to begin withdrawing from the mainland from October 6, said the India Meteorological Department as the country recorded an average of nearly 87 cm of rainfall across subdivisions, just short of the nearly 88 cm it normally receives during the monsoon. The quantum of rains during the monsoon is counted as that received between June1- September 30.

September rainfall, at 223 millimetres (mm) has been the second highest since 1993 when it got 239 mm (40% above normal). In 2019, India recorded nearly 250 mm, or about 52% more than normal.

Had it not been for the extraordinary rainfall last month, India could very well have ended up with deficit rainfall. With a weakening of the rainfall that began in mid-July and lasted most of August, the rainfall deficit in India had widened to nearly 24%. As of Thursday India has received 99% of its monsoon rainfall.