IMD predicts ‘normal’ monsoon, to hit Kerala on June 6

New Delhi, June 01: Monsoon season is all set to hit the country in a couple of days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that monsoon rainfall this year is likely to hit around June 6, a delay by four days.

Monsoon rainfall is expected to be "normal" at 96 per cent of the long-term average (LPA), the weather office said in a statement. The IMD defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of a 50-year average of 89 centimetres for the entire four-month season beginning June.

"We are expecting monsoon to arrive near Kerala around June 6. At this point, monsoon has covered some extreme southern part of the Arabian Sea and parts of southwest-southeast-east-central Bay of Bengal, Andaman sea and the Andaman Nicobar Islands. It'll cover more parts of Arabian Sea in the next 2-3 days," M Mohapatra of the IMD said.

The official, however, said that there is no scope of Delhi receiving rainfall anytime soon and that the maximum temperature in the national capital will be hovering around 46 degrees Celsius.

"We are expecting thunderstorm activity to continue for next 3-5 days over northeastern states and over extreme southern peninsula. But in Delhi, we are not expecting rain and our forecast states the maximum temperature in Delhi to be as high as 46 degrees," he said, according to news agency ANI. "It will gradually come down," he added.

Heatwaves continue to grip India with the highest temperature of 49.6°C being recorded in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar. The national capital also witnessed similar weather conditions with the IMD issuing 'red'warning.