New Delhi: Skymet Weather, a private forecasting agency, has predicted a “dismal outlook” for monsoon in India over the next four weeks until July 6, PTI reported.“Extended Range Prediction System (ERPS) is projecting a dismal outlook for the next four weeks, until July 6. The agricultural heartland is looking rather cracked and parched. This coincides with the crucial time of sowing or at least preparing the field, with the hope of impending rains,” Skymet Weather said on Monday, June 12.Due to the predicted inadequate rainfall early in the season, the central and western parts of India, which form the core monsoon zone, may face challenges in coping with the drying effects, the agency added. Most parts of central and northwest India are likely to be “extremely” and “severely” dry till July 6. The forecaster’s definition of “extremely” dry is when rain is 60% or less than normal, and “severely” dry is rain deficiency between -20% and – 59%.The government agency, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), has also indicated that there will be patchy rain coverage in the week of June 30 to July 6. There has been a 54% rain deficiency in the country since June 1 with 53% deficiency over south peninsula; 80% deficiency over central India; 10% deficiency over northwest India and 53% deficiency over east and northeast India, the IMD said in a statement.In fact, the southwest monsoon arrived in Kerala on June 8, a week later than the usual date of June 1. The delay in the onset of the monsoon was first caused by Cyclone Biparjoy in the Arabian Sea and will also continue to prevent the rain-bearing system from advancing to interior regions of the peninsula, the agency said.“Even though Biparjoy will bring rainfall to Gujarat and Rajasthan, we are not expecting monsoon onset over central India for nearly a week. Monsoon coverage of interior parts of the country has not picked up. I do not expect the monsoon to pick up properly until June 18 because Biparjoy once it weakens after landfall will remain a low-pressure area and will not allow monsoon winds to pick up. It will in fact divert the moisture towards extreme northwest India. We don’t think June’s deficiency will be covered,” Hindustan Times quoted Mahesh Palawat, vice president, climate and meteorology, Skymet Weather as saying.“While monsoon rains usually cover Maharashtra, Odisha, and half of Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Bihar by June 15, the monsoon stream is still grappling to settle over these areas. At present, the visible manifestation of monsoon surge is limited to the northeast and the west coast. Unfortunately, there are no signs of weather systems emerging over the Bay of Bengal in the near future, which are crucial drivers of the monsoon,” the PTI report said quoting Skymet Weather.