The India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rain in parts of south India and light rain with thunderstorms in Delhi on October 6 as the monsoon withdraws, with Delhi’s air quality expected to turn poor within three days.
The retreat of the monsoon is not a clean exit. As The Week put it, its withdrawal has not brought an immediate end to unsettled weather, and rain and thunderstorms are forecast from Kerala to Jammu and Kashmir.
In Delhi the forecast carries a second message. Rain and strong winds on October 6 are followed by a risk that air quality will fall to the poor category within three days, which could trigger the first stage of GRAP.
The south has the heaviest forecast: Kerala, South Interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have a yellow alert, with rainfall of 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm at some places.
By mid-October, a mild cold wave is expected in the plains, and hilly states face landslide risks, according to The Week.
Heavy rain is forecast on October 6 in parts of Kerala and Mahe, South Interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, with a yellow alert.
Rainfall in those areas is forecast in the 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm range at some places, according to India.com.
Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds of 30 to 40 kmph, gusting to 50 kmph, are likely in Himachal Pradesh on October 6 and 7.
Fairly widespread to widespread rain is forecast over Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on October 6.
Rain is expected in Bihar from October 6 to 9 and in Odisha from October 6 to 11.
Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi can expect thunderstorms, light to moderate rain and strong winds.
Eastern and western Uttar Pradesh may see moderate to heavy rain, with highs of 32 to 33 degrees and lows of 23 to 24 degrees, according to The Week.
Monsoon clouds over a city (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0