Saturday, March 29, 2025
Monsoon Covers Entire Punjab; Orange Alert Issued in Four Districts
The southwest monsoon has now completely covered Punjab, arriving five days ahead of schedule. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for heavy rainfall in four districts today, along with warnings of lightning in parts of the state.
According to the IMD, the month of June has recorded near-normal rainfall across Punjab, which is seen as a positive indicator for the agricultural season. Additionally, temperatures in the state have fallen by 2.9°C over the past 24 hours — now standing 6.8°C below normal.
On Wednesday evening, Amritsar received 30 mm of rain, Patiala 16 mm, Fatehgarh Sahib 1 mm, and both Hoshiarpur and Ropar recorded 0.5 mm. Ludhiana also reported light rainfall. Among the cities, Bathinda recorded the highest temperature at 36.1°C.
Maximum temperatures across major locations were:
Amritsar: 30.8°C
Ludhiana: 30.8°C
Patiala: 27.8°C
Pathankot: 32°C
Bathinda: 34.2°C
Faridkot: 33.5°C
The IMD has placed Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, and Tarn Taran under an orange alert, forecasting heavy rain and potential thunderstorms. A yellow alert has been issued for Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar, Ropar, Mohali, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar, and Fazilka — indicating moderate rainfall and storm warnings.
From June 1 to June 25, Punjab typically receives 48.6 mm of rainfall. This year, it has received 37.4 mm so far — just about 3% below average. This suggests rainfall is on track with seasonal expectations.
The IMD has forecast that rainfall for this monsoon season will likely be normal. In comparison, the monsoon arrived late in 2024 (on July 2), and Punjab received only 314.6 mm of rain — significantly lower than the long-term average of 439.8 mm.
This year, however, rainfall is expected to be around 110% of normal, which translates to approximately 500 mm for the state — bringing optimism for both agriculture and water availability.
