Southwest Monsoon withdraws from Delhi two days ahead of normal date

The Southwest Monsoon withdrew from Delhi on Wednesday, two days ahead of its normal withdrawal date of September 25, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The weather office said the monsoon further withdrew from most parts of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the entire national capital, and some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat on Wednesday.

The IMD said September 25 is the normal withdrawal date of the Southwest Monsoon from Delhi, based on data for the 1971-2019 period. Last year, the monsoon withdrew from the national capital on September 24.

The Southwest Monsoon made its onset over Delhi on July 2 this year, against its normal onset date of June 27, the IMD said.

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Delhi recorded 728.6 mm of rainfall at Safdarjung from June 1 to September 23, against the normal 629.7 mm, it said. The rainfall was 16 per cent above normal and fell in the “normal rainfall” category, it added.

The earliest withdrawal of the Southwest Monsoon from Delhi since 1961 was recorded in 1982, when it withdrew on September 3, while the most delayed withdrawal was recorded in 2013, when it withdrew on October 17.