It's hot out. So hot that heat-related deaths have caused more than 335 people to die across India over just the past three days. And the outlook for the rest of the week, particularly across most of central and north India, suggests relief is not coming anytime soon. But it will come in the form of the monsoon and there might be good news on that front.
This year's monsoon has actually turned up in India a little ahead of schedule, hitting the Andaman islands on May 16, four days before it was expected to get there. The Indian Met Department has predicted rains to be under average, at 93% of the norm this year, primarily because of the El Niño weather pattern. Even with deficient rain though, the approach of the south-western monsoon should significantly dent the sky-high temperatures that much of the country has been facing.
Which means those living in the southern parts of the country can look forward to temperatures coming down by the start of June, once the rains hit, while the rest of India will have to wait a little longer. This handy map from the IMD makes it very clear when people can expect the monsoon to reach their part of India, and what the actual dates have been so far.
The monsoon is expected to reach Kerala on June 1, although private forecaster Skymet suggests it could come a few days early. By June 5, it is expected to get up to Karnataka and then Delhi and the rest of North India by the first of July. The IMD is set to provide its second forecast for this year's monsoon by mid-June, which should give us a clearer idea of what the country can expect.
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This year's monsoon has actually turned up in India a little ahead of schedule, hitting the Andaman islands on May 16, four days before it was expected to get there. The Indian Met Department has predicted rains to be under average, at 93% of the norm this year, primarily because of the El Niño weather pattern. Even with deficient rain though, the approach of the south-western monsoon should significantly dent the sky-high temperatures that much of the country has been facing.
Which means those living in the southern parts of the country can look forward to temperatures coming down by the start of June, once the rains hit, while the rest of India will have to wait a little longer. This handy map from the IMD makes it very clear when people can expect the monsoon to reach their part of India, and what the actual dates have been so far.
The monsoon is expected to reach Kerala on June 1, although private forecaster Skymet suggests it could come a few days early. By June 5, it is expected to get up to Karnataka and then Delhi and the rest of North India by the first of July. The IMD is set to provide its second forecast for this year's monsoon by mid-June, which should give us a clearer idea of what the country can expect.