New Delhi: Most parts of the country is expected to receive below normal rain this year amid El Nino risk, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday. As per it, Northeast, Northwest, and South Peninsular India may receive normal to above normal rainfall.
According to the department, the country may receive 80 cm of rainfall during the Monsoon season. Notably, the long-period average (1971-2020) of the seasonal rainfall in India is 87 cm, it added further.
Seasonal rainfall in the country likely to be 92% of LPA: IMD
Speaking at a press conference, M Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology of the IMD, said as per news agency PTI, “Quantitatively, the seasonal rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be 92 per cent of long-period average (LPA) with a model error of +/- 5 per cent.” He added that below normal rainfall is expected in most part of the country.
One of the reasons behind below normal rainfall is likely to be the emergence of the El Nino conditions. The El Nino conditions may emerge around June, the IMD added. Importantly, El Nino is the warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, which play an important role in weather impact across the world.
‘Northern hemisphere snow cover area was slightly below normal’
“Positive IOD leads to more rainfall. So, we expect that this will counter the impact of El Nino during the second half of the monsoon season,” Mohapatra was quoted as saying further. He also added that, as against last year, the northern hemisphere snow cover area was slightly below normal during January to March this year.
Notably, close to 75 per cent of India’s rainfall occurs during the monsoon season, making it crucial for irrigation, drinking water, and other activities. Nearly 64 per cent of India’s population is dependent on agriculture, which mostly relies on the southwest monsoon.