Ranchi: The southwest monsoon completely withdrew from Jharkhand on Monday, raising hopes of favourable weather for Durga Puja and Navaratri celebrations across the state, Ranchi office of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said.The head of the Ranchi office of the IMD, Baburaj PP, said, “The withdrawal process began on Oct 3, two days ahead of the normal date of Oct 5, and covered the rest of the state on Monday.”The monsoon had earlier withdrawn from Garhwa, Chatra, Palamu, Latehar, and Lohardaga, besides parts of Gumla, Ranchi, Hazaribag, and Koderma. On Monday, the withdrawal covered the remaining areas of Gumla, Ranchi, Hazaribag, and Koderma, Simdega, West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Khunti, Ramgarh, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Giridih, Jamtara, Deoghar, Dumka, Pakur, Godda, and Sahibganj, he added.“The southwest monsoon had entered Jharkhand on June 12 and covered the entire state by June 30. Both its onset and withdrawal were broadly in line with normal patterns,” he said.Jharkhand recorded 1,005.7 mm of cumulative seasonal rainfall against the long-period average of 1,022.9 mm, a deficit of just 2%, which falls within the IMD’s normal rainfall category, the Met office said.The IMD has forecast morning fog or mist and partly cloudy skies over the next few days. Baharagora recorded 36.8°C, the state’s highest maximum temperature, while Latehar reported 16°C, the lowest minimum temperature during the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Monday.
