**Guwahati/Agartala, Oct 14:** The Southwest monsoon has officially withdrawn from the entire Northeastern region of India, comprising all eight states, on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed. The withdrawal date coincides with that of last year, when the monsoon retreated from the region on October 14.
An IMD official said the four-month-long monsoon, which normally lasts from June to September, entered the Northeast on May 26 this year—two days after its onset over Kerala on May 24. “Like previous years, the Southwest monsoon was more or less normal in the Northeastern region,” the official noted, explaining that rainfall within plus or minus 10 per cent of the long-period average is considered normal for the country.
The official added that the monsoon has also withdrawn from most parts of eastern India, including West Bengal, and conditions remain favourable for its complete withdrawal from the remaining regions in the coming days.
With the retreat of the monsoon, skies across the Northeast are expected to remain mostly clear, humidity levels will decline, and dry northwesterly winds will dominate, marking the seasonal transition toward winter.
This year, several Northeastern states—including Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland—experienced episodes of record rainfall and localized flooding during the peak monsoon period.
Earlier, the national weather bulletin had indicated favourable conditions for the withdrawal of the monsoon from the remaining parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, Telangana, and the Northeast.
With its final withdrawal from the hilly Northeastern region on Tuesday, the area now braces for a dry and cooler spell in the weeks ahead, ushering in the early signs of the winter season after a largely normal monsoon cycle.
