Monsoon mostly normal, deficient in parts

It was curtains down on the four-month annual monsoon season which brought just about normal rainfall across the country with some regions witnessing deficient showers to the tune of 30%. According to the weather office, the June to September monsoon season brought 862 mm of rainfall for the country as a whole, which works out to 97% of the long period average.

The IMD defines normal rainfall as plus or minus 4% of the long period average of 887.5 mm. The actual rainfall during the monsoon season was much less than the 106% forecast by the India Meteorological Department scientists who had expected the La Nina weather pattern to set in, bringing showers till October.

Rainfall has been excess or normal in 27 of the 36 sub-divisions or 85% of India. Coastal Karnataka and South Interior Karnataka witnessed 21% deficient rainfall, while Kerala received 34% less showers than normal.

The rain deficient regions include Assam & Meghalaya (30%), Punjab (28%), Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi (27%) Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat region (24%). Excess rainfall has been recorded in East Rajasthan (32%), Konkan & Goa (22%), Marathwada (21%) and Madhya Pradesh (19%).

The monsoon began to withdraw from northwest from September 15 onwards, but the progress has been sluggish due to the presence of a cyclonic circulation over South Chhattisgarh and adjoining Vidarbha. India’s 91 main reservoirs held 117.2 billion cubic metres of water as of September 29.