IMD data shows in the 24 hours between September 1 and 2, Haryana received 806 per cent more rainfall than normal, Punjab 759 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 510 per cent, Delhi 740 per cent, Chandigarh a staggering 1,638 per cent, and Rajasthan 193 per cent.
Landslides and flash floods triggered by incessant rain in Himachal Pradesh have paralysed normal life.
The early onset of the southwest monsoon brought continuous rainfall across southern and eastern India, contributing to this record.
'Nobody asked us to work on this. It was on our own that we decided to embark on this journey.'
From a few rain gauges in 1875 to rivalling the world's best weather agencies, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has weathered its way to becoming a global leader in forecasting.
However, there was no report of any major damage or casualty so far even as the landfall process started more than an hour ago, the official said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted above-normal rainfall across India in June, with most parts of the country likely to experience normal to below-normal maximum temperatures. The IMD also anticipates above-normal minimum temperatures across most of the country, except for some parts of central India and the adjoining south peninsula. The southwest monsoon reached Kerala on May 24, marking its earliest arrival over the Indian mainland since 2009. The monsoon is crucial for India's agriculture-dependent economy, providing vital water for crops and supporting drinking water and hydropower generation.
Landslides blocked arterial roads leading up to Dharali where dozens of people were trapped and many homes and cars swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday. Eleven Army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing.
Flight services at Mumbai airport were severely impacted on Monday due to low visibility after heavy rains in the city, leading to runway operations being shut for over an hour and approximately 50 flights being cancelled, sources said.
Skymet expects a good monsoon over western and southern India.
"The monsoon has reached Ratnagiri over the country's west coast. It will remain there for the week before moving on. This year's monsoon will be 96 per cent normal, with an error margin of 5 per cent," Indian Meteorological Department director B P Yadav said.
Houses in low lying areas of Kerala were flooded in the heavy rains, while the accompanying strong winds uprooted trees, damaged homes and caused power disruptions, throwing normal way of life into disarray across the state.
The labourers, who are said to be of Nepali origin, were engaged in the construction of a hotel.
In view of the discharge of water from the Khadakwasla, Mulshi, Pavana and other dams in the Pune region, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed authorities to be alert and shift people from dangerous zones to safer places.
A siren giving a warning about tsunami erroneously started playing from the Early Warning Dissemination System at Porvorim near Panaji, triggering panic among the local residents, an official said on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness for the hot weather condition in the upcoming summer season and called for preparing separate awareness material for different stakeholders like common citizens, medical professionals, local body authorities and disaster response teams.
More than 150 express/passenger trains running through South Eastern Railway jurisdiction have been cancelled in view of the severe cyclonic storm, an SER official said.
An Indian think-tank, which aims to forecast the annual rainfall based on an analysis of historical data said on Wednesday that the overall monsoon this year would be 15 per cent below the 120-year long-term average.\n\n\n\n
'The intensity and frequency of heatwaves will be much higher than in previous years over Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.'
Western Railway stated that local train services were running normally on Monday morning, however, commuters claimed trains were running late by 5 to 10 minutes.
An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale hit Pakistan-occupied-Gilgit late on Tuesday night and resultant mild tremors were felt in Doda and Kishtwar districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
A district-wise data on the temperatures of the day.
A district-wise data on the temperatures of the day.
The department said Marathwada, Central Maharashtra and Central India will benefit the most.
Mohapatra said there is a 40 per cent chance of a normal rainfall, 22 per cent above normal, 12 per cent excess and 18 per cent below normal.
States are mandated to develop and implement 'heat HAPs' for prevention of heat-induced diseases. But most do not go beyond standard advisory on heat prevention.
As weather patterns grow more unpredictable due to climate crisis, India is taking a giant leap with "Mission Mausam" to improve weather understanding and forecasting through expanded observation networks, better modeling and advanced tools like AI and machine learning.
Athletes and climate experts have expressed concerns that extreme heat could lead to severe health issues, including the risk of sportspeople collapsing or, in the worst-case scenarios, dying during the events.
The infamous Indian summer lives up to its reputation as the heat wave continues to grip the country.
Mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country on Monday as the Indian meteorological department predicted heat wave conditions in parts of east India over the next four days and the northwest region over the next two days.
Several areas of Tamil Nadu remain inundated after hours of heavy to moderate rainfall in the region. Water entered houses and markets in the low-lying residential areas of Erode district due to heavy rainfall throughout the night.
Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Thursday, causing waterlogging on roads in some areas that led to traffic snarls and also delayed local train operations.
Map showing how much rainfall various districts of India received.
IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said the department's modelling indicate formation of a cyclonic storm around May 9, but its movement and intensification may be determined after the low pressure area actually forms on May 7.
Southwest monsoon hit Kerala on Friday marking the start of the rainy season, four days after its normal onset date.
Over the past few days, deaths due to heat stroke have been reported from different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.
"Conditions are favourable for the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala and its further advance into some more parts of south Arabian sea, remaining parts of Maldives - Comorin area, some parts of Tamil Nadu and some more parts of Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours," said a statement by the Indian Meteorological Department.
'A few answers for the reason of the crash will be known -- whether it was a technical fault, design issue, human error etc.'
The method is based on a network analysis of regional weather data.
Massive preparedness, speedy evacuation plans and almost accurate prediction of cyclone time and path have saved the country from a natural disaster which could have taken thousands of live.
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