New Delhi – India is expected to witness above-normal rainfall in September, potentially compounding a monsoon season that has already unleashed devastating floods and landslides across several states, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday.
According to the forecast, the country is likely to receive over 109 per cent of the long-period average of 167.9 mm for September. Most regions will experience normal to above-normal rainfall, while parts of the northeast, the eastern belt, southern peninsular India, and pockets of northwest India may face below-normal precipitation.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra cautioned that Uttarakhand remains at high risk of landslides and flash floods due to intense rainfall, with rivers in the state expected to swell further. He also flagged possible disruptions in Delhi, south Haryana, and north Rajasthan, alongside heavy downpours in the upper catchments of the Mahanadi River in Chhattisgarh.
Mohapatra noted a “slight increasing trend” in September rainfall since 1980, despite sporadic years of deficient precipitation. He further explained that the surpluses this season were supported by active monsoon conditions and frequent western disturbances.
From June to August, India received 743.1 mm of rainfall—6 per cent above the long-period average. August alone recorded 268.1 mm, 5.2 per cent above normal, with northwest India seeing its wettest August since 2001. The region logged 614.2 mm of rainfall between June 1 and August 31, 27 per cent higher than average.
South Peninsular India also experienced surpluses, with August rainfall 31 per cent above normal—the third highest for the month since 2001.
However, the heavy rains coincided with severe weather disasters. Punjab endured its worst floods in decades, inundating farmland and displacing lakhs. In Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir, cloudbursts and flash floods triggered widespread landslides and property damage.
IMD attributed these events to successive western disturbances interacting with monsoonal systems, strong moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, and low-pressure systems moving across central India.
