The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday officially declared the onset of the southwest monsoon across the entire country, marking one of the earliest full coverage years in recent times. The monsoon’s nationwide reach—on June 29—comes nine days ahead of the normal July 8 schedule.
Light to moderate rainfall across Rajasthan, western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi helped confirm the monsoon’s widespread advance. However, the IMD noted that the onset over Delhi itself was delayed by two days from its typical arrival date of June 27.
“The southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and the entire Delhi region today. Thus, it covered the entire country on June 29,” the IMD said in a statement.
While western Uttar Pradesh (including Noida and Ghaziabad) witnessed short, intense showers, Delhi saw patchy rainfall, mostly in the south, southwest, and eastern zones. Delhi’s primary weather station at Safdarjung recorded only ‘trace’ rainfall, despite a yellow alert issued for the region.
The monsoon arrived early over Kerala on May 24 and Mumbai on May 26, well ahead of schedule. However, a brief break in monsoon activity in early June caused some forecasting inconsistencies. The IMD had issued multiple revised predictions for Delhi’s monsoon onset, shifting between June 24 and June 26.
This is the earliest monsoon coverage of the entire country since 2020, when it occurred on June 26. Similar early onsets were seen on June 26 in 2015, and even earlier—on June 16—in 2013.
With the monsoon now officially in place, the IMD will closely monitor regional rainfall distribution and agricultural impact, especially as July and August remain the most crucial months for India’s kharif cropping season.
