After experiencing intermittent showers over parts of Punjab and Haryana during the past four days, the Met Department said mainly dry weather is likely to prevail over many parts of northwest India from September 30.Isolated to scattered rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, is likely over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi on September 29, even as seasonal rainfall in the region remains deficient.From June 1 till the morning of September 28, Punjab received 268.8 mm of rain against the long-period average (LPA) of 437.8 mm for this period, accounting for a deficiency of 39 per cent. Correspondingly, Haryana received 315.7 mm against the LPA of 429.6 mm, marking a deficit of 27 per cent. In Himachal Pradesh, the monsoon has been 12 per cent below the LPA.Terming the monsoon activity during the past 24 hours as “normal” over Haryana and “weak” over Punjab, a bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on September 28 said light to moderate rainfall occurred at isolated places in both states. Day temperatures in these states were below normal, while night temperatures were normal.The line of withdrawal of the southwest monsoon continues to pass through Gurdaspur, Chandigarh, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh, Dholpur, Udaipur, Deesa and Naliya, according to the bulletin.After commencing its seasonal withdrawal from western Rajasthan on September 19 and retreating from most parts of Punjab and Haryana by September 23, the monsoon’s further withdrawal has been held up along the eastern fringes of Punjab.A satellite image released by the IMD on Monday shows dense cloud cover over eastern parts of Punjab, northeastern Haryana and the entirety of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, as well as many parts of Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.The IMD has also predicted isolated to scattered rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, over Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on September 29 and again from October 2 to 4; over Himachal Pradesh on September 29; and over Uttarakhand from September 29 to October 4.