Above-normal June rainfall to keep heat in check in most parts of India: IMD

At a press conference, M Ravichandran, Secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said rainfall across the country during June is likely to be more than 108 per cent of the long-period average of 166.9 mm.

New Delhi: India is likely to receive above-normal rainfall—106 per cent of the average—in the current monsoon season, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said here on Tuesday, bettering its April forecast of 105 per cent of average rainfall.

After a wet May experienced by the country, June is also set to be another wet month as more than 108 per cent of average rain is expected.

M Ravichandran, Secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said rainfall across the country in June was likely to be more than 108 per cent of the long-period average of 166.9 mm.

"During June, most parts of the country are expected to receive normal to above-normal rainfall. However, some areas in the southern peninsular and parts of north west and north east India may receive below-normal rain," he said.

The south west monsoon has arrived early this year, reaching Kerala on May 24, eight days ahead of its regular date of June 1, making it the earliest arrival since 2009. Subsequently, it galloped to Mumbai in three days with heavy rainfall in its fastest arrival in India's financial capital in 75 years.

“These rains, even though, will help in agriculture in the south and north east are a bonus as monsoon rain will be counted between June 1 to Sept 30. Also the monsoon’s early arrival has no correlation with the rainfall,” said Mrutyanjay Mohapatra, director general of meteorology at IMD.

Out of the four broad homogenous regions, only north east India is expected to receive below normal rainfall in the June-Sept season.

The monsoon rainfall is most likely to be above normal over Central India and South Peninsular India (over 106 per cent), normal over Northwest India (92-108 per cent) and below normal over northeast India (less than 94 per cent of LPA).

In the monsoon core zone consisting of most of the rainfed agriculture, the rainfall is most likely to be above normal (in excess of 106 per cent of average rainfall)

For the first time, the weather bureau has released a seasonal forecast for each of the 36 meteorological subdivisions. For each of the three subdivisions in Karnataka, it will be a bountiful monsoon with North Interior Karnataka likely to receive 111 per cent of the average rainfall followed by South Interior (108 per cent) and Coastal Karnataka (106 per cent).

The southwest monsoon plays a crucial role in India's trillion dollar agriculture-dependent economy, providing water for crops, replenishing reservoirs, and supporting drinking water and hydropower generation. In four out of the last five years, India received normal or above-normal monsoon rain.