The southwest monsoon has been playing truant from most southern states and Bihar even as it brought bountiful showers in Rajasthan and the granary states of Punjab and Haryana in the first month of the season.

According to the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) data, the first month of the monsoon season saw the country receive 136.5 mm rainfall against the normal of 157.7 mm, a deficit of 13 per cent, as on June 29.

Bihar and Kerala were the two states that witnessed very little rainfall in June -- 69 per cent and 60 per cent below-normal rainfall respectively -- for the period. Bihar received 47.5 mm rains in June against the normal of 151.1 mm. Kerala received 251.1 mm rainfall as against 621.9 mm, which is normal for the season.

Tamil Nadu, which usually gets rains from the northeast monsoon, received 49.3 mm rains against the normal of 51.5 mm for the month of June. The southwest monsoon had a delayed onset over Kerala on June 8 and lingered on due to Cyclone Biparjoy that had formed in the Arabian Sea around the same time.

The monsoon progressed rapidly after Biparjoy made a landfall in the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat on June 15. The Extended Range Forecast (ERF) issued by the weather office on Thursday evening said the conditions are favourable for further advance of monsoon to the remaining parts of the country over the next two days.

According to the ERF, ENSO-neutral conditions are prevailing over the equatorial Pacific region. Also, neutral Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions are present over the Indian Ocean, which are likely to continue during the remaining period of the pre-monsoon season.

Rainfall activity is expected to pick up over peninsular India next week and taper down over parts of north-west India and Gujarat. Rajasthan and Delhi have experienced more than double the normal rainfall the regions get in June. Between June 1 and 29, Rajasthan received 145.9 mm rains against the normal of 50.7 mm and Delhi got 126 mm rainfall against the normal of 60.4 mm.