Get ready to get wet this weekend.

If the protracted wait for the rains and the sultry weather is getting on your nerves, relief is round the corner.

A low-pressure condition near Gopalpur in coastal Odisha, around 400km south of Patna, has halted the monsoon’s advance to Bihar. But the barrier has now started moving northwest and would weaken by Friday evening, allowing monsoon to enter the state by Sunday.

A low-pressure area sucks out moist winds from its surrounding areas. Monsoon winds were expected to enter Bihar on June 10 from the south and the northeast. The low-pressure zone on the Odisha coast led to a diversion of rain-bearing winds halting their progress towards Bihar.

“According to the observations made till Thursday afternoon, the low-pressure area has started moving in a northwest direction. It is likely to weaken by Friday evening. This would allow monsoon to advance towards Bihar and the state is likely to receive its first monsoon shower on June 16,” said Ashish Sen, director, India Meteorological Department, Patna.

Monsoon usually arrives in Bihar between June 11 and June 13. This year, it would arrive three to four days late but that’s not unusual.

Sen said: “While one branch of monsoon would enter the state from the southern side, adjacent to Jharkhand, another branch would enter from the eastern side through the districts of Purnea, Kishanganj and Katihar.”

He said that after reaching Bihar, the monsoon would cause moderate rainfall till the end of the month after which the state was likely to receive heavy rainfall. Bihar receives 1,027mm rain in a normal monsoon year. According to the forecast for the whole country, which is expected to have a normal monsoon this year, Bihar, too, is expected to get normal rainfall this year.

The Met director said that by the end of the month, the monsoon trough line is expected to pass over the northern parts of Bihar, allowing good rainfall in the entire state.

The trough line is an elongated low-pressure area which stretches from west to east and which also indicates the northern limit of monsoon. Areas falling south of this line receive good rainfall. On Thursday, the monsoon trough line was passing from Rajasthan in the west to Odisha in the east. It was around 400km south of Bihar.

As far as the prevailing sultry conditions are concerned, residents would have to endure it till the arrival of the monsoon as day temperature in most parts of the state is hovering over 35 degree Celsius with the relative humidity level well over 50 per cent.

“People feel uncomfortable when temperature remains at 32ºC or above with relative humidity level hovering at 55 per cent. On Thursday, it was around 70 per cent. The day temperature was above 35 degree C, making people feel uncomfortable,” Sen said.

Boring Road resident N.K. Mishra said: “One starts feeling uncomfortable right from the morning. It has become impossible to do without an air-conditioner.”

The wait is unlikely to be too long now.