The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that the 2026 southwest monsoon season may witness below-normal rainfall due to strengthening El Niño conditions, even as heavy rain and thunderstorm alerts remain in place across several parts of the country.
According to the weather office, the southwest monsoon has advanced into parts of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand. Favourable atmospheric conditions are expected to help the monsoon progress further by 15th June into additional areas of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and eastern India.
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However, the overall onset and advancement of the monsoon have been significantly delayed this year.
Heavy Rain Alerts in These Cities
The IMD has issued orange alerts for heavy rainfall in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh. Yellow alerts have been sounded for major urban centres, including Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.
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A series of weather systems has triggered yellow alerts across several major Indian cities. Delhi is expected to experience pre-monsoon conditions, partly cloudy skies, light rain, thunderstorms, lightning, and strong surface winds under the influence of a western disturbance. In Kolkata and adjoining districts such as Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas, and East and West Midnapore, thunderstorms accompanied by lightning are forecast. Hyderabad and several districts across Telangana are likely to receive light to moderate rainfall or thundershowers over the coming days.
The IMD has also forecast isolated heavy rainfall in Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar, Odisha, Kerala, and the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya until 16 June.
Heatwave-Affected Areas
While several regions gear up for rain, heatwave conditions continue to scorch isolated pockets of Marathwada, West Rajasthan, Telangana, and Vidarbha, underscoring the starkly uneven distribution of weather systems across the country.
According to the IMD, a coupled ocean-atmosphere system is now actively driving El Niño conditions across the equatorial Pacific. This development brings back a familiar climate disruptor; since the turn of the century, El Niño has made appearances in 2002, 2009, 2015, and 2023 before emerging again this season.
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