The southwest monsoon started pulling out of Jharkhand on Sunday with weathermen saying a complete withdrawal was expected in another 48 hours.

"Conditions are becoming favourable for further withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from some parts of Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and most parts of

Jharkhand during the next two days, " said Abhishek Anand, head of IMD's Ranchi Meteorological Centre.

The withdrawal line of the monsoon was on Sunday passing through Motihari, Gaya, Daltonganj,

Ambikapur, Indore, Gandhinagar, Rajkot and Porbandar.

Weathermen said withdrawal of the monsoon was delayed this year. The process started from the north western parts of Jharkhand from October 6. Two back-to-back low-pressure systems originating from the Bay of Bengal added to the delay.

Usually, the monsoon starts withdrawing from the northern parts of the country around the third week of September. The process gets completed in Jharkhand by the first week of October.

Weathermen on Sunday said currently no significant weather conditions prevailed over Jharkhand. A cyclonic circulation over north Andaman Sea was extending upto 5.8 Km above mean sea level.

Under its influence, a low pressure area was likely to form over the same region during next 36 hours. It is likely to intensify and move west-northwestwards towards south Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh coasts during the subsequent four to five days.

Statistics revealed that light rain occurred at one or two places over Jharkhand during the last 24 hours. The highest amount of rainfall (5 mm) was recorded at Bokaro. The forecast indicates mainly clear sky and dry weather during the next 48 hours.