August & September to be wet as rain deficiency drops

Rainfall in the country is fast approaching normalcy with the deficiency having reduced to 9 per cent from 14 per cent a week ago.

Weather scientists said more rain was expected in the remaining two months of the monsoon. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, the country received 363.3 mm of rainfall from June 1 to July 25. This was nine per cent less from the normal figure of 398.4 mm. The North- East showed the greatest deficiency of 22 per cent, followed by central India which was deficient by nine per cent.

North- west India was deficient by six per cent while the southern peninsula received 10 per cent excess rains. “ In the remaining season, the entire deficiency will be made up,” IMD director B. P. Yadav said.

“ By the end of July, the deficiency is expected to drop to about five per cent,” D. S. Pai from the IMD said. But another weather scientist said it could not be predicted whether the entire rain deficiency would be made up. The rains, he conceded, had increased and were expected to be normal in the coming days.

Better rains are attributed to a weather phenomenon called La Nina over the Pacific Ocean, which is marked by the cooling of sea surface temperatures. La Nina conditions have been confirmed internationally. “ As a result of building up of La Nina, August and September will have more rain than the previous two months,” Pai said.

La Nina causes the shift of air from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. This leads to vertical movement of air over the Indian Ocean which results in cloud formation. In terms of local phenomenon, there was low activity of monsoon because there was no depression over the Bay of Bengal.

“ A low pressure area has formed over the Bay of Bengal bringing good rain over the past few days. The low pressure area is now over Madhya Pradesh. More rains are expected in Gujarat, southern Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,” Pai said. The Met has predicted 102 per cent rainfall this season.