Gurgaon: Haryana received 109mm of rainfall in July, 27% below the normal of about 150mm, with 18 of the 22 districts ending the month with deficient rainfall, according to India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) monthly weather report released on Friday.While a few districts recorded normal or excess rainfall, large parts of the state continued to face significant shortfalls. Gurgaon recorded 163mm against a normal of 175mm, a deficit of 7%. The district escaped the severe shortages seen elsewhere in Haryana but still ended July below its climatological average.Sirsa recorded the sharpest shortfall, receiving just 22mm of rainfall, 74% below normal. Jind and Rohtak each recorded a 66% deficit, followed by Ambala (50%), Hisar and Sonipat (45% each), Panchkula (44%) and Kaithal (43%). Other districts with deficient rainfall included Panipat (24%), Bhiwani (23%), Fatehabad (21%), Jhajjar (18%), Yamunanagar (14%), Mahendragarh (14%), Nuh (13%), Karnal (12%) and Rewari (8%).Only three districts received above-normal rainfall during the month. Palwal recorded the highest positive departure, 30% above normal, with 177mm of rainfall, followed by Kurukshetra with a 20% surplus and Chandigarh with 10% above-normal rainfall. Faridabad received 191mm, almost matching its normal rainfall with a marginal 1% surplus, while Charkhi Dadri stayed close to normal with a deficit of just 4%.Haryana entered the core monsoon period after a weak June, when the state recorded a 44% rainfall deficit, receiving just 30.5mm against a normal of 54.7mm. Rainfall activity improved in July as successive monsoon systems became active over north India, reducing the cumulative shortfall. However, the recovery now remains incomplete with patchy rain in July.The uneven monsoon this year comes amid the development of El Nino conditions over the equatorial Pacific. While El Nino is generally associated with weaker monsoon rainfall over India, July rainfall at the national level turned out to be near normal despite earlier forecasts of a below-normal month, highlighting how climate variability is increasingly influencing the spatial distribution of rainfall. IMD has, however, forecast below-normal rainfall during Aug and Sept, suggesting that the second half of the monsoon season could remain subdued.In July 2025, the state received 174mm rainfall, 17% above normal. Haryana had also seen above-normal July rainfall in 2021, 2022 and 2023, while 2024 recorded a 44% deficit. The wettest July in the last 26 years remains 2003, when the state received 306mm of rainfall, 65% above normal.
