On June 17, southwest monsoon was active in Vidarbha and Orissa. Rain or thundershowers have also occurred at most places in Arunachal Pradesh, Konkan, Goa, at many places in West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar plateau, Marathawada, Telangana, coastal and south interior Karnataka and Kerala, at a few places in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, hills of west Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat region, Madhya Pradesh, central Maharashtra, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema and at isolated places in east Rajasthan, east Uttar Pradesh, Saurashtra, Kutch and Tamil Nadu. Weather was mainly dry in rest regions of the country.WEATHER REVIEW: A low pressure area was formed over northwest Bay of Bengal on June 10. It concentrated into a depression in the morning of June 11 and lay centered close to Purulia in West Bengal. Moving in northwesterly direction the system was located about 50 km northwest of Varanasi inUttar Pradesh on June 12. Thereafter it weakened rapidly over northeast Uttar Pradesh on June 13 and became unimportant.

Another low pressure area was formed over northwest Bay of Bengal off Orissa-West Bengal coasts on June 15 and became well marked on June 16. This deep depression over northwest Bay of Bengal moved in a west northwesterly direction and crossed Orissa coast near Gopal in the night of June 17. It continued to move in a west northwesterly direction, weaken into depression and lay at 1430 hrs IST on June 18 about 100 km south of Raipur in Madhya Pradesh. It is likely to move in the same direction and weaken further.During the period June 1 to 16, 23 out of 35 meteorological subdivisions and 48 per cent districts of the country received normal to excess rainfall. This situation is comparable with 1994 monsoon.

RAINFALL FORECAST: Rain or thunder showers are likely to occur at most places in north coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and coastal and north interiorKarnataka, at many places in Gujarat state, Orissa, rest of Andhra Pradesh, south interior Karnataka and Kerala and at afew places in south Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and at isolated places in the rest regions of the country.Heavy to very heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and coastal Karnataka. Rainfall activity is likely to increase in central and adjoining northwest India and also along the west coast. Increase rainfall activity over central and peninsular India is likely to continue.

TEMPERATURES: Heat wave conditions continue to prevail in parts of Jammu & Kashmir. On June 17, day temperatures fell markedly in west Uttar Pradesh, fell appreciably in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, fell in Punjab and changed little elsewhere. They were largely below normal in the hills of west Uttar Pradesh, markedly below normal in Haryana and in the plains of westUttar Pradesh, appreciably below normal in Punjab, below normal in east Uttar Pradesh, appreciably above normal in Jammu & Kashmir and normal in the rest of the region of north India.

The highest temperature in north India was 43.6øC recorded at Churu in Rajasthan. In Delhi and in the nearby region the weather is likely to be sultry, partly cloudy sky. Light shower or thundershower is expected at some places towards the evening or night. Slight rise in day temperature is also expected.