IMD changes monsoon onset, withdrawal dates for regions & states

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday announced new dates for onset and withdrawal of monsoon for regions and states.

The dates, however, remain same for the country as a whole with onset on June 1 and withdrawal on October 15, the department said.

For regions and states, the IMD said, the present normal monsoon onset and withdrawal dates was based on records of only a few stations (149 stations) from the period 1901-1940.

The normal dates of onset have been revised based on data during the 1961-2019 period. The normal dates of withdrawal have been revised based on data during 1971 to 2019, it said.

Monsoon onset over Kerala remains the same, which is June 1, the IMD said.

"However, new monsoon advance dates over the states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and parts of Uttar Pradesh are delayed by three to seven days compared to the existing normal dates, Secretary, Ministy of Earth Sciences, M Rajeevan, said.

The normal monsoon onset date over Chennai was June 1 but it has now been revised to June 4.

Similarly, the onset date for monsoon over Kolkata and Mumbai was June 10, but has been revised to June 11.

Monsoon will be delayed by four days in the national capital. The new onset date for Delhi is June 27.

In the northeast, monsoon will reach Imphal on June 5. The earlier revised date was June 1.

Similarly, the onset date in Dimapur in Nagaland and Guwahati in Assam has been revised from June 2 to June 4.