La Nina to pave way for good monsoon in India this year? IMD says…
A year after suffering from weak and uneven monsoon, India is likely to witness abundent rainfall during the season in 2024. According to the IMD, the impact of El Nino will fade away, and La Nina conditions likely to be set in by the second half of the monsoon season
India is likely to embrace abundant rainfall during monsoon this year, under the reduced influence of El Nino and significant La-Nina conditions in the Pacific region after May, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
The IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, while briefing a press conference on Friday, said that persistent El Nino conditions are likely to bring intense heat during the summer season this year. However, the prevailing El Nino conditions will likely get neutral after the summer season.
El-Nino is the periodic warming of waters in the central Pacific Ocean. The phenomenon has a direct impact on the weather patterns prevalent over the Indian peninsula.
More heatwaves during the summer season in 2024
Before a good monsoon, India needs to prepare for a scorching summer season due to prevalent El Nino conditions. More heatwave days than normal are predicted over northeast peninsular India -- Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and north interior Karnataka -- and many parts of Maharashtra and Odisha. The country is likely to record above-normal rainfall in March (more than 117 per cent of the long-period average of 29.9 mm).
India is likely to see above-normal maximum and minimum temperatures in most parts of the country in the March to May period, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said at a press conference.
He also added that heatwave conditions are not predicted over north and central India in March.
What is La Nina?
La Nina conditions -- generally associated with good monsoon rainfall in India -- are likely to set in by the second half of the monsoon season. The term refers to the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean and represents the cool phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. El Nino climatic pattern in the Pacific Ocean influences weather globally. By August, there are chances of a gradual shift to La Nina, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).