Monsoon reaches one of its last outposts in Rajasthan 2 weeks early; eludes Delhi, parts of north India

New Delhi, Jun 29: The southwest monsoon has reached Barmer in west Rajasthan, one of its last outposts, two weeks before its normal schedule but is yet to arrive in the north Indian plains including Delhi which have been reeling under searing heat, the Met office said on Tuesday.

The northern limit of southwest monsoon (NLM) continues to pass through Barmer, Bhilwara, Dholpur, Aligarh, Meerut, Ambala and Amritsar, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

After arriving two days late in Kerala, the monsoon had raced across the country, covering eastern, central and adjoining northwest India seven to 10 days earlier than normal. It has even covered parts of north India, including Rajasthan's Barmer -- a border district and mainly desert area -- but parts of west Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana are yet to receive rainfall.

According to Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD''s regional forecasting centre, Barmer is among the few stations in west Rajasthan which are usually covered by the southwest monsoon in the last. Southwest monsoon reaches west Rajasthan by the first week of July.

However, it covered Barmer two weeks before its normal schedule, IMD''s Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said.

"A system in the Arabian Sea provided impetus to the monsoon which covered some parts of Rajasthan including Barmer in early June," Mohapatra said.

In case of Delhi, Haryana, parts of Punjab, west Uttar Pradesh and west Rajasthan, the easterlies bring monsoon over this area from the Bay of Bengal, he said.

"But there has been no active system currently in the Bay of Bengal that could help the easterlies to bring monsoon over this region," Mohapatra added.

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

However, westerly winds have been blocking its advance into Delhi, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. Normally, 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.

However, this year, the wait for Delhi, Haryana, parts of west Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and west Rajasthan has been overdue even as the mercury and humidity have continued to soar, the IMD said, adding immediate relief was unlikely.

"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 the next six to seven days," the IMD said.