In a good news for farmers who mainly depend on monsoon,the country is likely to receive normal monsoon rainfall this year.Briefing media in New Delhi on Southwest Monsoon season rainfall forecast, Director General of India Meteorological Department (IMD), K J Ramesh said, quantitatively, the monsoon rainfall from June to September is likely to be 96 per cent of the Long Period Average plus minus five per cent. He said, there would be good distribution of rainfall across the country.
Mr Ramesh also said, the prospect of El Nino development is weak and it will not impact the seasonal rainfall.El Niño is a weather phenomenon caused by unusual warming in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in atmospheric changes, potentially leading to poor monsoon.Mr Ramesh said, for the first time monsoon forecast has been done using dynamical model. He informed that second stage of monsoon forecast to be issued in the first week of June.
Last year, IMD had forecast that rainfall in June to September would be 106 per cent which is above normal, but the actual rainfall was around 97 per cent.India gets 70 per cent of its annual rainfall during the southwest monsoon which irrigates half the country’s farmlands.
Intense heatwave conditions continued to prevail in several parts of the country. In Haryana and Punjab today, Narnaul once again turned out to be the hottest place in the two states at 44.8 degrees Celsius.
With the temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Telangana, the IMD has warned of heatwave like conditions to prevail in all the districts of the state today and tomorrow.
Weather remained dry in most parts of Uttar Pradesh while heatwave conditions were observed at isolated places in western region of the state.
In view of intense heat conditions in the state, the Chhattisgarh government has directed all primary and upper primary schools to change their timings.
Delhi experienced the hottest day of the season today with mercury crossing 42 degree Celsius. Delhiites are facing the brunt of the hot weather conditions from past few days. Yesterday, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 41.2 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season’s average.
According to the MeT Department, the maximum temperature was recorded 42.5 degree Celsius which is 5 degree above normal while the minimum settled at 24.9 degree with three degree above normal. The weatherman said, there will be no respite from the scorching heat in the coming days.
The MeT Department has forecast a clear sky for tomorrow with the maximum and minimum temperature are likely to hover around 42 and 27 degrees Celsius.
