The India Meteorological Department on Thursday declared the onset of monsoon in Delhi, two days ahead of its usual date of arrival .
Monsoon clouds led to rainfall in parts of the city on Wednesday but IMD said the onset would be declared on Thursday as rainfall data from all weather stations for the last 24 hours was required to declare the onset of monsoon.
Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the regional forecasting centre of the IMD, said the northern limit of monsoon passes through Nagor, Alwar, Delhi, Karnal and Ferozepur. The wind system has further advanced over some parts of Rajasthan, eastern Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and most parts of Punjab on Thursday.
Srivastava said light-to-heavy rainfall is likely in parts of Delhi on Thursday.
According to weather experts, the earlier-than-usual arrival of monsoon can be attributed to a cyclonic circulation over Bay of Bengal which moved towards southwest Uttar Pradesh on June 19 and 20, helping monsoon advance rapidly.
A trough line had been persisting for many days over Punjab, south Haryana, south Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, which sped up the movement of monsoon, they said.
