Monsoon 2023: The usual date for monsoon to reach Mumbai is June 11, and June 27 for Delhi.
This year's monsoon has reached 80 per cent of India so far, India Meteorological Department's senior scientist Dr Naresh Kumar told NDTV on advancement of southwest monsoon in the country.
Monsoon reached different parts of the country rapidly due to a low pressure area occurring in the Bay of Bengal yesterday, he said.
Monsoon arrived in Delhi and Mumbai on the same day on Sunday. This has happened after 62 years, Dr Kumar said.
The usual date for monsoon to reach Mumbai is June 11 and June 27 in Delhi, but reached the two metro cities on the same day. However, this can't directly be linked to climate change as it takes data from 30 to 40 years to determine that, Dr Naresh Kumar said.
Monsoon has reached different parts of the country in a new pattern this year.
"Generally, monsoon is activated by a low pressure zone. High speed winds caused by the low pressure zone led to monsoon rapidly reached various parts of the country which saw rainfall," he said, and explained that western winds from the Arabian Sea that push monsoon further up coincided with the formation of the low pressure zone in the Bay of Bengal when it was over Maharashtra.
This resulted in rainfall in Maharashtra, including in Mumbai, and at the same time the low pressure zone pushed winds towards north-western India, including to Delhi, covering both regions at the same time, Dr Kumar said.
Clouds over Assam have dissipated, and significant rainfall is not expected there, he said.
12 cm rainfall is expected in Rudraprayag and various other areas of Uttarakhand, he added.
Several cities in the country are witnessing heavy rainfall and a flood-like situation after the southwest monsoon brought showers over the past couple of days.
The weather office has predicted heavy rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds in Punjab and Haryana today. Light to moderate showers are likely to continue for the next two days.
Flash floods have hit Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district and over 200 people, many of them tourists, are stranded. Visuals showed several vehicles damaged after they were washed away in Kullu.