The Southwest Monsoon arrived in the State on May 26, a week ahead of its June 4 arrival, but it has since been playing hide and seek as Andhra Pradesh did not record heavy rainfall between June 1 and 22.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), in its forecast for June, on May 27 had said that the State is likely to see an above-normal rainfall and added that the probabilities of the same were between 30.5% and 55%.

As per information on the Andhra Pradesh State Development and Planning Society (APSDPS), there is a 37.5% deficit in rainfall in the State between June 1 and 21. As against the average normal of 76.6 mm rainfall, the State recorded 47.9 mm during this period. At the beginning of the second week, as of June 9, there was a deficit rainfall of 59% in the State.

Except for five districts, including Eluru, Krishna, Kurnool, Anantapur, East Godavari, that reported ‘normal’ rainfall between June 1 and 21, the remaining 21 districts have reported ‘deficit’ rainfall. Four districts, including Alluri Sitarama Raju, Palnadu, YSR Kadapa, Annamayya, have reported ‘large deficient’ since the rainfall deficit in these districts is more than 60%.

Palnadu has the largest deficit percentage of 67.7 as against the normal of 63.4 mm, the district received 20.5 mm rainfall in the first three weeks of June.

According by the IMD forecast, for the people in the State there is not much to cheer as not much rain is in store for the State until June 26. Moreover, the weather may remain hot and humid, with daytime temperatures reaching 40°C or more. However, thunderstorms, accompanied with lightning and strong winds, may offer some relief in some pockets.