Delhi will have to wait another week for Monsoon

New Delhi, June 26: Delhi and nearby areas in northwest India will have to wait for at least one more week for the first monsoonal showers, the India Meteorological Department said on Saturday.
The northern limit of the southwest monsoon continues to pass through Barmer, Bhilwara, Dholpur, Aligarh, Meerut, Ambala and Amritsar, it said.

"Prevailing meteorological conditions, large scale atmospheric features and the forecast wind pattern by dynamical models suggest that no favourable conditions are likely to develop for further advance of southwest monsoon into remaining parts of Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi and Punjab during next seven days," an IMD statement read.

Subdued rainfall is likely over northwest, central and western parts of peninsular India during the next five days, it said.

After arriving two days late in Kerala, the monsoon had raced across the country, covering eastern, central and adjoining northwest India 7 to 10 days earlier than normal.

The MeT office had earlier predicted that the wind system may reach Delhi by June 15, which would have been 12 days early.

However, westerly winds persisting in northwest India have been blocking the monsoon. These are expected to prevail for another week, according to Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD''s regional forecasting centre.

Normally, the monsoon reaches Delhi by June 27 and covers the entire country by July 8.

Last year, the wind system had reached Delhi on June 25 and covered the entire country by June 29, according to Skymet Weather, a private forecasting agency.