LUCKNOW, June 19 -- The southwest monsoon finally made its first appearance in the state this year on Wednesday. However, it, yet again, defied the trends by entering the state from Jhansi, Lalitpur and Sonbhadra districts in the south for the second year in a row.

Last year, it arrived in the state through Lalitpur, which borders Madhya Pradesh, on June 25, as the Arabian Sea branch of monsoon was more active, which was quite unusual.

As such, weathermen anticipate that the weather system may make a reentry in two to three days, but this time from the eastern districts of the state. Normally, the monsoon enters UP through Ballia and Gorakhpur from Bihar and Jharkhand.

"The monsoon has advanced into some more parts of North Arabian Sea...