Southwest monsoon withdraws from Northeast close to normal date, leaves deficit: IMD
Guwahati/Agartala, Oct 15 (IANS) The Southwest monsoon has withdrawn from the entire northeastern region, comprising eight states, as of Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, with the process taking place close to its normal date.
“Last year (2025), the Southwest monsoon withdrew from the entire Northeastern region on October 14,” a senior IMD official told IANS. He said that though the winter season would be felt from the last part of November, the maximum and minimum temperatures would gradually decrease from now onwards.
The Southwest monsoon advanced into substantial parts of the Northeastern region on June 7, two days later than its normal onset date.
IMD officials in the Meteorological Centres in Guwahati and Agartala said it covered the entire northeast by June 10, kicking off the four-month-long monsoon period.
According to the IMD data, the region, comprising eight states – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura — recorded a 26 per cent deficit in average rainfall during the four-month monsoon season from June to September.
While Sikkim, Tripura, Mizoram, and Nagaland recorded rainfall within the normal category during the monsoon season from June to September, Mizoram and Tripura recorded 19 per cent and 16 per cent deficient rainfall, respectively, while Sikkim and Nagaland recorded 9 per cent and 6 per cent excess rainfall, respectively. As per IMD norms, rainfall ranging from 19 per cent deficient to 19 per cent excess is categorised as normal.
Among the other four Northeastern states, Meghalaya recorded the largest deficiency of 60 per cent during June to September, followed by Manipur with 46 per cent, Arunachal Pradesh with 44 per cent, and Assam with 28 per cent deficient rainfall.
Meghalaya, which generally receives substantial rainfall, recorded only 1,077.1 mm of rainfall (actual) during the monsoon season this year against its predictable normal rainfall of 2,695.3 mm, resulting in a large deficiency of 60 per cent, according to the IMD.
An IMD statement said rainfall over the country as a whole during the 2026 Southwest monsoon season from June to September was 87 per cent of its Long Period Average (LPA). All-India Southwest monsoon rainfall was 759.4 mm, the fourth lowest since 2001 and the 13th lowest since 1901.
According to the IMD, seasonal rainfall over Northwest India, Central India, South Peninsular India, and Northeast India was 94.1 per cent, 97 per cent, 76 per cent and 74 per cent of their respective LPAs, respectively. Rainfall over East and Northeast India was 1,017.1 mm, the lowest since 1901, while South Peninsular India recorded 542.0 mm, the fourth lowest since 1901 and the second lowest since 2001.
However, Central India received rainfall in the normal category during the monsoon season.
According to agricultural scientists and IMD officials, adequate rainfall during the Southwest monsoon, particularly in July, is crucial for the Kharif season, as sowing activities across most parts of the country, including the mountainous Northeastern region, gather momentum during this period.
A senior official of the Manipur Agriculture Department said the 46 per cent deficiency in monsoon rainfall, coupled with the prolonged ethnic conflict, had severely affected agriculture in the state, where irrigation facilities remain inadequate.
“However, the state government has taken adequate arrangements and other supportive measures to facilitate farming activities in both the Imphal Valley and the hill districts during the Kharif cropping season,” the official told IANS.
(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujitchakrabortyne@gmail.com)
–IANS
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