The southwest monsoon began retreating from Jharkhand on Friday, just two days behind its normal date, a weather department official said.?The normal date for withdrawal of monsoon from Jharkhand is October 12. It arrived in Jharkhand on June 18 and retreated from northwest parts of the state on Friday. It is likely to withdraw from entire Jharkhand within 72 hours, the official said.

“Monsoon has withdrawn from Garhwa, Palamu, Latehar, Chatra, Hazaribag and Koderma today (Friday). Conditions are favourable for further withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from remaining parts of Jharkhand during the next three days,” ?Abhishek Anand, the in-charge of Ranchi Meteorological Centre, told PTI.

There was 20 per cent rainfall deficit in the state this year, he said. A deviation of 19 per cent rainfall, either surplus or deficit, is considered to be normal by the India Meteorological Department. Officially the rainfall data from June 1 to September 30 is counted as monsoon rain by IMD and the rest is counted as post-monsoon rains, Anand said.

Jharkhand received 817.8 mm rainfall from June 1 to September 30 against the normal rainfall of 1022.9 mm during the period. Post–monsoon, the state has received 81.3mm rainfall from October 1 to October 14 against the normal of 49.8 mm - which is 63 per cent surplus rain so far during the month.

In the first two monsoon months the state’s overall rainfall deficit was 49%, the highest since 2014, he said. Jharkhand had received 258.7 mm rainfall from June 1 to July 31 against the normal rainfall of 508.2 mm.

Anand said that the southern and central parts of Jharkhand might experience sporadic rain during the next few days as the southern part is still moisture-filled. With the exit of monsoon, people might experience light chill in the mornings and evenings. Winter is likely to enter Jharkhand by the month end, he said.

(With PTI inputs)