Southwest Monsoon may remain behind schedule for the state of Maharashtra. The central parts of the country including Chhattisgarh, Odisha and East Madhya Pradesh may have to wait longer than normal for the 1st monsoon showers. Monsoon arrival as per normal dates, as such is after 15thJune for parts of Gujarat, Jharkhand and Bihar.
Monsoon surge is gathering pace and the cloud cluster is waiting in the wings over Southeast Arabian Sea and the equatorial belt across Maldives and Comorin Sea region. Cross equatorial flow will strengthen and carry these cloud bands across Kerala, Coastal Karnataka and spill over to interiors of Tamil Nadu and Rayalaseema in the next few days.
Under normal circumstances, Konkan and southern parts of Madhya Maharashtra get swept with the monsoon current between 5th- 10thJune. Remaining parts of Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal get covered by the stream, around 15thJune. Monsoon surge is expected to kick up over Southern Peninsula and neighborhood around 08th-10thJune. Further travel to parts of Maharashtra is likely to take more days.
Most parts of Maharashtra in general and Marathwada and Vidarbha in particular are largely dependent on the monsoon rains. Going by the normal dates, the farming community start preparing their fields for sowing, anytime soon in the 1st week of June. Anticipating rains around 10th June over many parts, preparations go full swing in the early days of June.
Due to expected delay in the monsoon rains, it is advised to delay these operations. Adequate spread and intensity of rains is not likely before 15th June. Accordingly, a judicious call need to be taken before commencement of field operations. Skymet will endeavour to provide a notice of about one week, before the drenching rains visit the rain-fed areas of Maharashtra and other central parts.