After much awaited, the capital city finally welcomes the southwest monsoon on Sunday, two days later than its typical June 27 onset last year. The monsoon reached the capital city on June 28, and in 2022, it arrived earlier on June 25.

Over the past week, the city had witnessed a steady increase in moisture-laden southeasterly winds that enhanced cloud cover and brought scattered to fairly widespread rain spells.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) attributes the delay in the arrival of the monsoon in Delhi to an anti-cyclonic circulation that was temporarily obstructing the monsoon’s advance, despite persistent cloud cover in the capital city over the past week.

Across the rest of the country, the monsoon has advanced rapidly and is expected to blanket the entire nation nearly 10 days ahead of the usual July 8 schedule. The IMD also states that there have been only a few instances since 1960 when the monsoon has advanced over both Delhi and the entire country on the same day — like in 1967, when the monsoon arrived on June 2. Other such instances took place in July in the years 1968, 1987, 1992, 2003, and 2011.

IMD Issue Yellow Alert

The meteorological office has issued a yellow alert for Delhi on Monday, forecasting light to moderate rain or thunderstorms accompanied by lightning. No alert has been issued for the subsequent days, but rainfall is still expected. The day temperature will be between 26°C and 31°C throughout the week.

The IMD has predicted above-normal rainfall in Delhi by July 10. The normal rainfall for the month is expected to be around 209.7 mm.

“The monsoon is likely to be active and near its normal position during most days of the week. As a result, fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls is likely over many parts of North and Northwest India,” states the IMD for the weather between July 3–10.