The southwest monsoon never really took off in Chhattisgarh, and the weather department has issued an Alert for thunderstorms and light rainfall for five days in parts of the state.
The absence of any strong weather systems first from the Arabian Sea and later also from the Bay of Bengal has delayed the progress of the monsoon, said India Meteorological Department (IMD). This has resulted in below average rainfall through the first 3 weeks of June.
The weather department released the rainfall data which revealed Chhattisgarh has received 32.3 mm rain in the first 21 days of June with no district crossing its monsoon target. Last year, by June 21, the monsoon had spread across the whole state, in contrast. The activity has not been able to gain ground this year and is still in its nascent stage in parts of Bastar.
Wet and windy weather is likely to set up between June 23, says weather experts. But, the temperature in the central districts is likely to stay 3-5°C above normal in the next two days and some pockets can experience ‘heat wave’ conditions.
The temperature was the highest in the state on Sunday in Bilaspur at 41.8 degrees c. with the lowest minimum temperature of 22.9 degrees c. recorded at Ambikapur.
The cloudy sky is likely to be seen with the possibility of thunderstorms and light rainfall on Monday in Raipur. The highest possible temperature is likely to be slightly under 40 degrees Celsius, with the lowest possible temperature to be slightly over 29 degrees Celsius.
Additionally, the weather department has provisioned a yellow alert for Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Bastar, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Dhamtari and Gariaband districts warning in case of lightning, gusty wind and rain activity during the daytime.