New Delhi, Jun 24 (IANS): Southwest monsoon advanced in some parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab and hilly states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday afternoon.

The weather bureau had issued an 'orange' alert for northern states. Delhi will have to wait until Thursday for the onset of the monsoon, said Mahesh Palawat of the Skymet Weather, a private weather forecasting agency.

Monsoon rains are critical for farmers in India as the majority of the country's net-sown area does not have any form of irrigation. Farmers wait for the rains to begin for sowing of crops.

"Southwest Monsoon has further advanced in some parts of Rajasthan, Chandigarh and north Punjab, most parts of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh and entire Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad," the IMD stated in its afternoon bulletin.

The IMD, in its long-range monsoon forecast, had predicted good rains at 107 per cent of the long-period average (LPA) in north-west India.

The LPA of the monsoon season rainfall over the country between 1951 and 2000 is 89 cm. It is kept as a benchmark while forecasting the quantitative rainfall for the monsoon season every year.