Delayed by 5 days, southwest monsoon hits several parts of Himachal Pradesh

The Southwest monsoon advanced and covered several parts of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday after being delayed by five days, the meteorological office here said.

According to the MeT department data, the monsoon was scheduled to arrive in the state by June 22.

The earliest onset of monsoon arrival in the state was recorded in 2000 on June 9 and July 5 in 2010. The monsoon arrived in the state on June 24 in 2023, June 29 in 2022, June 13 in 2021, June 24 in 2020 and July 2 in 2019.

Himachal Pradesh received 39.5mm against the normal 84.3 mm of rain, a deficit of 53 per cent from June 1 to June 26. So far, all the 12 districts in the state have received deficient rains.

The MeT on Thursday issued a yellow warning of heavy rain, and thunderstorm with lightning for the next four days from June 28 to July 1 in 10 out of 12 districts of the state, barring the tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti.

"Isolated spells of heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning and gus