Northeast monsoon arrives in south India
Oct-Dec rainfall is important for Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Kerala and south interior Karnataka
New Delhi: The Northeast monsoon has arrived in the country, India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced on Wednesday. The October to December rainfall is important for Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Kerala and south interior Karnataka.
These regions, with the exception of Tamil Nadu, receive about 30% of their annual rainfall during the season; Tamil Nadu receives nearly half of its annual rainfall during this period.
After the second consecutive deficient southwest monsoon this year, the Met has predicted 88% chance of an above-normal northeast monsoon over south peninsular India and 90% chance over Tamil Nadu.
While the season usually starts from 1 October, meteorologists say rainfall usually starts by 20 October, and this year it arrived almost a week late.
“The easterly currents are very strong and an adequate number of stations in coastal Tamil Nadu have received rainfall for onset to be declared," said N. Chattopadhyay, deputy director general of the agricultural meteorology division at the Met in Pune. “This season is particularly important for crops like rice, oilseeds, pulses, sunflower, groundnuts and jowar."
Due to a water crisis in Tamil Nadu, a failure of the northeast monsoon could bring about a huge problem in the state, Chattopadhyay said.
The southern region, which includes Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have 31 reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 51.59 billion cu. ms (BCM).
This year, due to a poor southwest monsoon, the total water available in these reservoirs on 15 October was 18.20 BCM, which is 35% of their total capacity.
“This year, a low pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal, off the Sri Lanka coast, is responsible for ushering in monsoon over the region," Skymet Weather Services Pvt. Ltd, a private forecaster, said on its website on Wednesday. “Low pressure area has now become more marked, leading to an increase in rainfall activity over coastal parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh."
The season’s rainfall for the southern peninsula is most likely to be above normal at more than 111% of the average, the Met said.
Heavy rainfall is expected to continue over some places in peninsular India over the next two days, particularly Tamil Nadu, it said.
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